10 Things You Should Never Say to a Woman
by hsm07
Summary: Troy learns the value of keeping his mouth shut when it comes to his woman.
1. What Did You do to Your Hair?

**Author's note-So basically I need a huge stress reliever and I ran across an article that consisted of 10 things you should never say to a woman. I thought, 'hey, I can do a mini-series on this and what better couple to use?' And so this isn't meant to be serious or even funny, but I guess that's your guys' decision on how you want to view this series. I'll be updating whenever I want/can. This is not my first priority as it is simply a stress reliever. Tell me what you think in a review, even if you're going to tell me that I'm crazy for starting this, but I always like feedback. Thanks.**

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_1. What did you do to your hair?_

Troy Bolton liked to think that he was a simple man. He didn't need fancy clothes. He didn't need the huge mansion that everyone on TV seemed to own. And he didn't need to go out and party every night so that when he woke up the next morning he couldn't remember anything.

Yes, he would like to look decent when in public.

Yes, he wanted to feel proud of the studio he lived in.

And yes, he liked to go out at least once a week and have a couple of beers with his friends.

But all together, he was a simple man who had a loving girlfriend of nearly two years. They had met while running into each other at the gym. He was leaving and she was coming. Troy had taken one look at Gabriella Montez, said 'sorry' and was instantly hooked. Instead of hailing for a taxi he turned around instantly and went back into the gym as if he had never left.

It turned out that they had a lot in common—something that Troy learned as he followed her around the gym and heard her talking to her blonde friend—later on he learned that the blonde's name was Sharpay.

He had learned that she was the same age as him which used to be the prime age of twenty-four. They lived in the same neighborhood. And apparently they both worked out at the same gym now.

The start of their relationship had all fallen into place as Sharpay so rudely pointed out that she and Gabriella were being 'stalked' at the gym. Sharpay was always one for being blunt and making a scene. She was about to call for security when Gabriella had stopped her and silently gone over to Troy on the treadmill.

It had only taken five minutes before Troy left the gym with a number and a promise to call the brunette beauty later that night.

And as the cliché saying goes…the rest was just history.

* * *

Troy lazily plopped down onto the couch with a bag of chips resting on his chest. He was just in the middle of watching one of the most important basketball games when a feminine grunt was heard. He dismissed it casually as he figured the lady next door to him was home and was getting ready to screw the latest man whore she brought back with her.

It wasn't until he heard his name that he put the volume to the game down.

"Troy."

He turned his head, but settled himself back down on the couch. It was Gabriella, he knew her voice anywhere, and he also knew that she had her own key which she brought everywhere.

"Yeah?" He called back as his eyes trailed over the score of the game.

"Troy…you have to let me in. I have your food!" She called with a forced cheeriness. That was never good if he could detect her forced happiness. That usually meant that someone messed up at the paper she worked at, and if not, then that also meant he did something that upset her, and that was never good.

Just as he unlocked the door and opened it for her she already had all of her grocery bags on the ground, and the key near the lock.

"Hey," he said smoothly, bending over to pick up the dropped bags. He went in to kiss her on the lips, but instead he came into contact with her smooth cheek. He narrowed his eyes in confusion, but instead of answering his silent question, she pushed right passed him with the other bags and walked over to his kitchen counter that outlined one of his walls.

He followed her slowly, quickly glancing inside the bags to make sure that she bought the food that he liked as well as the food she wanted him to eat. "Thanks again for doing this. You know you don't have to, right?"

Gabriella nodded her head while she started unpacking the food. "I know, but it's always a pleasure to make sure that you're not feeding yourself just chips, frozen pizza, and beer."

"You also forgot peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." He came up from behind her and quickly put his hands around her. She stopped walking and shut her eyes as she felt him nuzzle his face in the crook of her neck. "Mmm, is this a new perfume? I like it baby."

Gabriella smiled softly as her hands reached down to lace their fingers together. "It's something like that."

Troy pressed a kiss to her exposed skin, and then another, and then one last kiss before resting his chin on her shoulder. "How was work today?"

They were swaying softly in their position, both content on just being with one another. "Stressful, but when is it ever smooth sailing?"

One of Troy's hands untangled itself from Gabriella's and moved up gently, slowly tracing the curve of her right breast through the gray material of her cotton knee length dress. "I'm sorry baby. I can make it up to you tonight though."

Gabriella giggled as Troy twirled her around. Although they had been dating for two years, they had both admitted their love for one another, and Gabriella basically spent more time at his place than her own, they still have not become engaged. It's not that Troy didn't want to, but he was just waiting for the right time to ask Gabriella. Fortunately, he had a feeling that the right time was coming up soon.

When he fully looked at her face he instantly stopped moving. This was the first time that he actually took a good look at her, and he knew instantly that something was different. It was as if his brain was not communicating with his mouth as the next seven words tumbled off his lips without a muffler.

"What did you do to your hair?"

Gabriella's smile fell from her face instantly. She tentatively reached up to touch the newly cut bangs that swept across her forehead—giving her an older look. Troy had seen her with her hair short, long, curly, and straight, but he had never seen her with bangs and he had to admit, it gave her a different look.

"You don't like it." She stated more than questioned. Her whole body stopped touching Troy's and he knew that he made a mistake as his eyes widened, and his brain worked in overtime to try to fix the damage he started.

"No!" He said too quickly. He put his arms on her shoulders and crouched down a little so that he was eye level with her. "Of course I like it. It's just different."

Troy knew Gabriella felt hurt when he asked his question, but now he was just digging his own grave as he continued on rambling.

"Different?" She asked with slight offense. "Like a good different or bad different?"

She shrugged out of his hands and so he was just left in an awkward position.

"A good difference," his fast reply came. "Definitely a good different as is looks so sexy baby."

"So I wasn't sexy before?" She hissed. "Was I ever sexy to you then?"

"Of course you were. The bangs are just…did I say good different? I meant bad different because…" It was then Troy realized that no matter what he said it was a lose-lose situation. He could say that the bangs were a good different and then Gabriella could then question him on what he thought of her before the new haircut, or he could say that they were a bad different and then she could quite possibly take even more offense to him and threaten to not talk to him until her bangs grew out again.

"Well?" Gabriella waited with her hip cocked to the side, her hand resting on that said hip, and one of her eye brows quirked. She tapped her black leather boot on the hardwood floor while looking at Troy expectedly. "Which is it?" Good or bad?"

Troy shut his eyes as he pleaded with God to somehow get him out of this mess. "Baby, I really didn't mean to start this fight."

"Fight? We're fighting now?" She was getting worked up and Troy knew it. She must have been in a really weird mood before she came to him, or else she would have never acted this irrationally, although he would never tell her that she was being childish about this. He knew that girls liked to take everything about appearance seriously.

"I love your bangs. I was just thrown off guard when I saw them considering I forgot that you were getting your hair done today." Troy looked into her eyes, hoping that she could see his honesty, and he was sure that his words were enough to get him out of this hole, however, he saw the change in her eyes and he knew that he lost this mini battle.

"I don't believe you Troy," Gabriella finally stated while walking away. Troy saw her go for her purse which she must have brought in with her because he knew that he didn't carry it in. "Your first observation was enough to tell me that you _obviously_ hate what I paid someone to do, and by the way, I spent good money on my hair today. It wouldn't kill you to appreciate it for a moment!"

Troy was ready to rip out his own hair if he had to keep reassuring her that her bangs looked perfect. "Ella, baby—"

"Don't 'baby' me Troy Bolton. You can only say that pet name so many times in one night before it starts wearing off."

"Where are you going?" He asked as she marched towards the door, and although he hated himself for it, he couldn't help but let his eyes focus on her hot ass swaying from side to side in her cotton dress. The fabric of her dress had felt so good beneath his fingertips and all he wanted to do was take it off of her, knowing that the dress would look and feel much better if it was on the ground around their feet instead of on his girlfriend.

"I'm going where I'm appreciated!" She snapped.

Troy followed her to the door. "Don't forget your key El. We both know that you're going to be back tonight, and this time, I might not feel like opening the door for you."

Gabriella scoffed at him while pushing passed him to leave his apartment. She didn't bother taking the key from Troy's waiting hand, and it was in his best interest at the time to leave it under the 'welcome' mat he had at the outside of his door, but he didn't. He wasn't the only one who messed up, and so she would have to do some of her own apologizing if she wanted him to fix their mini fight.

* * *

It was storming out and Troy couldn't help but worry about his Ella. He knew that she hated thunderstorms, and that she was probably scared, but…no. He would not call. He had to be strong about his decision. If he backed out from his plan of secretly making Gabriella want him then that entailed him not calling her. She could come to him on her own.

He was just about to fall asleep after reading in bed for an hour, drinking three cups of warm milk, and counting one thousand sheep that he heard a knock on his door. He glanced at the time and saw that the clock declared it being two-thirty in the morning. He quietly rolled out of bed, relief instantly rushing through his body as he knew who was knocking.

Troy didn't bother to throw on any other clothes that were thrown around his room, but instead answered the door in just his red plaid boxers. He tried his best to put on an irritated face—because that was the plan—but he couldn't help but look sorry when Gabriella rushed into his waiting arms, hugging him close for comfort.

Her clothes were soaked, and the thin white sweater did nothing but cling to his girl. She had goose bumps coating her skin, and the only thing Troy could think of doing was stripping her out her clothes so that he could warm her instantly with his own clothes, that she loved to sleep in, and body heat.

"Geez Ella," He cooed as he led her to his bedroom. He quickly grabbed a black t-shirt and set that on the bed next to her. She was shaking slightly, her lips trembling from the rough winds outside the building. "How are you so soaked?"

"The storm is really bad out there. It wasn't that bad when I got into the taxi, but then when we started driving towards my apartment it started getting worse and I panicked, and I ended up here." She spoke quickly and when she was done she glanced up at Troy as if asking for his permission to enter his home—although he would never turn her away and she knew it.

"You're this wet from walking to and from the taxi and then to my apartment?" He peeled away her sweater, not even having to ask if he had consent to unclothe her as they had seen each other so intimately before that it become natural to undress each other when they were alone.

"Believe me, I didn't walk. I ran but the sidewalks are slippery and these boots don't really let me run quick."

They worked together to unzip the dress from Gabriella's body, and she quickly rid of her leather boots that did nothing but kill her feet and make her look taller than what she really was. And soon she was wearing one of Troy's t-shirts that looked more like a dress on her than a pajama shirt, and was lying underneath Troy's covers with his arms around her body.

Their faces were looking at each other and at the same time they both said, "I'm sorry."

"I just—" Troy started.

"I know I—" Gabriella stopped.

They both chuckled while turning silent.

"Let me go first, please?" Troy asked. Gabriella's fingers gently made unknown shapes on his chest while she waited for him to continue. "I know I made a mistake when asking you what you did with your hair, but I really was just surprised, and I know that's a lame excuse and I should have remembered your appointment, but I have to let you in on a secret."

He took a deep breath before continuing. "I always love your hair. I love it when it's short because I can run my fingers through it. I love it when it's long because then on the mornings after we make love it always has snarls in it, and I know that I'm the one who put them there. I also love when you straighten your hair because you say you only do that to treat yourself every once in a while because it takes so long to do, and when you do take your time to do that, I know that you enjoy it and that makes me happy. And then I also love your bangs now because although you've only had them for a day, we have already fought over them, and I know the makeup sex will be awesome because…you're awesome Ella. I'm crazy for you and your hair and everything that makes you the person you are now."

When Troy looked down at Gabriella once more he noticed that she was looking down at his chest instead of at his face. He was about to question her but then he heard her sniffle.

"Hey, don't cry. I didn't mean to make you cry."

She looked up and gave him a watery smile. "God, I'm such a bitch sometimes."

"You weren't—"

"Troy," Gabriella said, "I was. Please don't deny it. I should have never freaked out on you about my hair. I was just stressed about work and how the layout of the paper wasn't working out today, and," she took a deep breath realizing she was making up an excuse on why she freaked out on him, and so she stopped herself and stroked his cheek, "and, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken out my stress about work on you."

He kissed her. He didn't need an apology from her, he decided. Instead, he just needed to be close to her.

He laid partly on top of her as his hand gripped her backside. "Ella, I'm promising you right now that I'm probably going to mess up a lot with my words, but you have to know that I will never hurt you purposefully."

Troy kissed her once more, and pulled away when he was sure that they both were breathing heavily.

"What are you doing Troy?" Gabriella asked, moving his hair out of his face.

"Whenever I come home from work and I'm stressed out, you always offer to give me a massage, and so now I'm offering to give you a _full_ body massage for free."

Gabriella giggled as his hands crept up higher on her body.

"I like the sound of that."


	2. They Both Look The Same to Me

**Author's Note-So everyone's alerts and reviews inspired me to update right away. I just want to say thank you. Now, to answer some people, yes, these chapters do connect. What you read about Troy and Gabriella in chapter one transfers over to chapter two, three, four...And yes, I will be updating, as I believe this will be about ten chapters long-maybe more if I can become creative and think of my own phrases guys shouldn't say to a woman. Thanks so much, and if anyone has any other questions I'll be happy to answer them.**

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2. They both look the same to me.

Troy groaned when the alarm went off. He slowly yawned and opened his tired eyes. Gabriella and he had been up late the previous night, hanging around with Chad and Sharpay at a bar. The couple hadn't expected to stay out late, but with Sharpay's bad influence over Gabriella and Chad's teasing of Troy being like an old man, the power couple could be very convincing.

"Don't get up," Troy said in a raspy voice.

Images of the previous night floated through his mind and he couldn't help but grin as he remembered how they had made love after coming home from hanging with their friends.

Gabriella shut off the alarm and sat up a little, looking around the room groggily. "I have to," she said with a moan of displeasure.

Troy turned on his side and his fingers reached up to play with the strap of her bra. "We didn't even get to undress you all the way," he said amusingly.

Gabriella snorted, "That's because _someone_," she turned to Troy with cheekiness, "was too eager to get started with the real fun last night."

Troy shut his eyes, remembering how their bodies had moved beneath the sheets, "Don't remind me baby…that is unless you want to be late for work and do other things with me."

Gabriella groaned again. "I guess I should get up." She leaned over and kissed him on the mouth. He wasn't expecting it, but it only took him a second to respond. Right before Troy really got into the kiss Gabriella pulled away to his displeasure. "I'm gonna go shower. Make yourself at home."

Troy watched as Gabriella slid out of bed, admiring all her curves and taut stomach. She bent over to grab Troy's shirt from the floor before stretching up to slip it over her head.

"You're killing me Ella," Troy growled. He had felt his cock twitch before, but when Gabriella looked over her shoulder before leaving her bedroom, and dropped her black lacy bra near the doorway; Troy knew he instantly had another problem to handle.

"I know," was her response before leaving to shower for the day.

Troy shut his eyes, letting his mind wander when thinking about Gabriella in all her glory. His hand reached down to Troy Junior, envisioning Gabriella giving him a hand job instead. He had a morning problem, Gabriella was in the shower, and so he had to get rid of his problem the easiest way known to man. He was just fortunate that Gabriella was going to wash the sheets, and so he didn't have to feel guilty if the ending accidentally became too messy.

* * *

Troy didn't mean to fall asleep, but after taking care of his business and realizing that it was five-thirty in the morning he rolled over and shut his eyes. He didn't need to be up until seven that morning.

It was a casual work day at the company his father trained him to take over. Jack Bolton was a powerful man. He ran many publishing companies and newspapers around the nation. He was even in the middle of trying to start up some foreign business, and so it only made sense to want his only son to take over his hard earned company someday in the future.

Troy was okay with that. He used to go to work with his father on the weekends all the time. He'd sit in Jack's big office by himself whenever his father went into a meeting—the secretary keeping an eye on Troy, being discrete as possible. Troy liked reading. It wasn't common for him to admit it to his friends when in high school because in school he was the basketball boy who liked to party, but when college time came around and he made new friends, it was easy to admit that he actually liked reading the books that his professors assigned the class.

And so while Jack made Troy follow him around for a year, traveling to different places all around the nation every couple of weeks, Troy thought he would love going and shadowing. But four weeks before he was supposed to fly to Los Angeles, he had met Gabriella. All of a sudden, he didn't want to go. He liked the idea of being able to run the company from New York, but in order to do that, he had to shadow his father for a year. That meant, any big meeting happening, than Troy was supposed to be there.

But training had been done a year and two months ago. He was now stationed in New York, occasionally traveling every couple of months, and now it was his work's annual Christmas party that happened every early December.

He awoke once more to the sound of his loving girlfriend's worried sigh. He quickly glanced at the clock to see that it read six-thirty, and he thought that it would be better to just get up now since Gabriella would be leaving at seven anyways.

"What's up babe?" Troy asked. He reached over to the side of the bed and put on the light, now being able to see much clearly since the blinds were still down and blocking out the early light.

Gabriella walked out of her closet—yes, she _walked _out of her huge closet filled with expensive clothes—and held up two dresses. Troy could honestly say that he wasn't looking at what she was holding, rather than looking at the way her hip jutted out and the heaving of her breasts which were clad in a white lacey bra. His eyes trailed over her body approvingly as he tried to keep his eyes away from the matching white thong that adorned her lower half.

"I can't decide on which one to wear. Your father is coming to the office today, and he wants to do lunch," Gabriella explained. The newspaper Gabriella worked at was small, but quaint and nice. Troy knew that Gabriella loved working there, even if she received a lot of pressure from her job. Troy had known that the newspaper, however, used to struggle for success, and so he proposed to his dad that he wanted to support his girlfriend's work and that he believed the newspaper could be so much better than what it was.

Jack had easily agreed, and together the Bolton men adopted Gabriella's place of work into their company and now they were responsible if the paper failed or succeeded. Usually, Troy was the one who popped his head in from time to time to check up with the people and to go over specific meetings, but if Jack was in town, than he would do that.

Troy finally looked at the dresses Gabriella was holding. In her right hand she held up a white dress that had a black belt that went around her small waist. In the other hand, Gabriella held up a gray dress that had a slight dip in the front to reveal a small amount of cleavage.

"They both look the same to me," Troy said.

Gabriella frowned and it was apparent to Troy that he had made the wrong choice. "You do realize that whichever dress I wear to work I have to wear to _your_ work party, right? I won't have time to come home and change." Troy didn't say anything as he was trying so hard to come up with the right response. "And they can't be the same Troy! They are completely two different items, colors, and designs!"

"Well then wear the gray dress?" Troy questioned.

Gabriella had sensed the uncertainty in his voice, and misjudged it for something else. She put both dresses down on the edge of the bed and stuck her hands on her waist in her annoyed habit.

"Are you sure because apparently I missed the memo that gray was the new white in fashion," Gabriella pointed out sarcastically.

"Uh…" Troy tried to search his mind for something intelligent to say, but he drew a blank. "Ella, you always manage to look your best without my help. You don't need my opinion on this. After all, it's only lunch with my dad and then it's _only_ a work party. Why does it matter so much?"

Gabriella narrowed her eyes and walked into her closet again. She came back out a second later with a thin white slip covering her body. "It matters because these are the people who you work with nearly every day Troy. I'm your girlfriend and I want to look good for the people you talk to and associate yourself with. I just thought your opinion mattered, but obviously I was wrong because it's _only_ your work party, and of course it doesn't matter how I look because everyone will be concentrating on you."

She grabbed the gray dress and quickly put it over her head. She reached for the zipper in the back but only managed to pull it up a little. She hissed in anger as Troy quietly stood up and zippered her dress without question. He rested his hands on her lower waist as she finished smoothing out the dress.

He kissed the inside of her shoulder, her hair and makeup already done as he knew it was almost time for her to leave. "Ella, you look beautiful no matter what you wear. And you know that's not what I meant when I said that it's only a work party. So what's the real reason behind you freaking out?"

Troy thought he was getting somewhere in trying to make amends, but the slipup of his tongue made Gabriella tense beneath his warm hands.

She detached herself from Troy and said in an icy manner, "I have to go. I can't be late today."

Troy watched her storm out of her own apartment, biting his lip as he tried to think of a solution on how to get out of the hole he dug.

* * *

"You better watch yourself," his father warned lightly, "You wouldn't want people to think you're drunk before your girlfriend even shows."

Troy glanced at his father without amusement. "I don't really care what people think right now. I just wish Ella would text me or call me back."

Jack put a hand on Troy's shoulder. "She seemed distant today. You guys have trouble in paradise?"

Troy brought the cold bottle up to his lips, not even noticing that the bottle was empty. "Just a little, I guess."

Jack smiled as he watched the entryway to the party. "I'm sure things will work themselves out."

Troy looked at his father who seemed to be smiling like a madman. "What's with the grin? I'm your son who is sulking. You shouldn't be smiling right now."

Jack rolled his eyes at Troy's dramatics. "I'm going to go, and while I leave, I'll pretend to mind my own business as you go and talk to your girl who just walked in."

Troy glanced over to the doorway and smiled instantly. Gabriella looked more beautiful than ever with her hair in perfect curls, and her light makeup coating her face flawlessly. The dress she chose to wear clung to her body, dipped slightly in the front and back, and the boots she wore were enough to get any man's attention. He all of a sudden picked up that his male employees—who were on their way to getting smashed—were looking at his girlfriend like she was a piece of meat. He didn't like it one bit, and so he put his empty beer bottle down and started to walk across the room.

Troy managed to get halfway to Gabriella, but felt a tug on his arm. He turned and looked at the blonde female before him.

"Hey Troy," Carrie greeted flirtatiously. She kept her hand on his arm, but he shrugged her off immediately. She giggled, oblivious to looks she was drawing in during her drunken haze. "Are you solo tonight? Was this party too much for Gabriella to handle?"

Troy knew that Carrie was a secretary for his right hand man, Chad. Neither Sharpay nor Gabriella got along well with the blonde seeing as she was their age, had fake breasts, and had a liking for Troy. It was obvious that once Troy started dating Gabriella that he needed to get rid of Carrie, but he couldn't just fire her for no apparent reason, and so he transferred her over to Chad so that he had his own secretary and Troy could live in peace while at work.

Troy blew off Carrie's rude question. "How are Steve and little Mike? I haven't seen them yet," Troy referenced Carrie's boyfriend and six month old son.

Carrie pouted, but it had no affect on Troy whatsoever. "Steve wouldn't bring Mike because he thought the noise would be too much to handle. Oh," she perked up instantly, "I love this song. You should dance with me!"

Troy backed away while putting up his hands, keeping this conversation short. "I don't dance with anyone but my girlfriend who I am in love with. Which, by the way, I'm going to go find her now. Take care Carrie."

He quickly walked away, and came to meet Gabriella's eyes instantly. "Hey Ella," he greeted smoothly. "You look beautiful."

"I wonder if Carrie would say the same thing," Gabriella said dryly.

Troy scratched the back of his neck, all of a sudden aware of the blaring music and smell of liquor. "I was hoping you didn't see that," he admitted.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "She's still attracted to you. I thought things were better with her once she had the baby."

Troy saw hurt and jealousy shine through Gabriella's glossy eyes. "Hey, come here." He took her hand and led her through the people. He wanted some along time with his girlfriend, and so the only opportunity was to go outside in the chilly air. Once they stepped outside he instantly took off his jacket and put it around Gabriella. "Are you okay? Are _we_ okay?"

Gabriella bit her lip and looked up at Troy. "…Yeah. Everything's okay now."

"Ella…don't lie to me please," Troy requested softly.

"I was fine after this morning. I had time to realize that I might have overreacted a little and—"

"A little?" Troy snorted.

Gabriella glared at him while hitting his arm lightly. "I'm trying to explain things, but if you're just going to mock then I'm just going to go back inside." She started to turn but he caught her around the waist, and nuzzled his nose into his own jacket situated around her shoulders.

"Don't you dare leave me," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Anyways, I realized I asked your opinion on the dresses because dresses can't possibly look the same, and I just wanted you to say anything to let me know that you actually _notice_ what I wear for you." Gabriella let him hug her from behind, and so Troy took that as a good sign to what she was explaining. "And your response, for just a second, made me think that you didn't care at all. I know it's stupid, but that's what I thought this morning."

"You're right," Troy said, making Gabriella look up in alarm. "It is stupid because, Ella, I always care. I might not notice things sometimes, but that's because I'm too busy thinking about you in other ways—and no, I don't just mean sexually."

Gabriella smiled while turning around in his grip.

"But there has to be another reason why you got upset. It's not like you to worry about what to wear," Troy whispered while leaning his forehead against her own.

Gabriella sighed. "You're going to think this is stupid also."

"Try me," Troy grinned, his hands coming up to cup both of her cheeks to offer her warmth.

"I knew Carrie was going to be here, and I guess I felt just a little intimated knowing that she still works with you, and might have a crush on you still."

"In other words, you were jealous Gabriella Montez."

Gabriella narrowed her eyes. It wasn't common for her to feel jealous. "No. I'm going to deny that."

Troy grinned cheekily. "It's okay baby because right when I saw you enter this little party, the green eyed monster overtook me too. In fact, I'm always on the lookout for potential threats."

Gabriella laughed at Troy's wording. "Maybe I was a little jealous. I don't like feeling like this, but knowing that she can be very blunt while drunk gets under my skin and makes me not like her very much."

Troy turned his head and pressed a kiss right below Gabriella's ear. "I love you Ella. You're it for me, and Carrie is not a problem."

He pulled away to look at her. "Thank you Troy," she whispered.

He pulled her in for a hungry kiss. It didn't take long for the kiss to become steamy, and it wasn't until Jack cleared his throat from the doorstep that the couple pulled away—both feeling like teenagers getting caught by a parent.

"Uh," Jack cleared his throat, "They want to start making toasts to people, and they can't start until Troy shows his face."

"Thanks for the warning," Troy said before Jack disappeared.

Gabriella hid her face in Troy's chest, chuckling softly. "That was embarrassing."

"You think that's embarrassing?" Troy ran his fingers through her hair, smiling, knowing he would do anything for her. "You're not the one who has to go give a toast with a…_problem_…starting to form in your pants."

Gabriella's eyes widened as more giggles spilled out of her mouth.


	3. Relax

**Author's Note-So I want to thank everyone for their support. I hope you like this installment, and just for those who follow Summertime Games, I will be updating later today. So make sure that you look for that update later. Thanks.**

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3. Relax, (aka: Don't get so worked up.)

"Ella, we're going to be late for our reservation," Troy groaned from his position in the taxi.

Gabriella got out of the taxi and saucily turned back around to look at him. "That's because _someone_ was being extra horny today." She glanced at the running meter in the taxi and held out her hand for Troy to take. "Come on. We're only three blocks away from the restaurant. After we grab my purse from inside then we can just walk."

Troy looked at Gabriella as if she were playing a joke on him. He then looked down at her heels that lifted her off the ground a good three inches. "You want to walk? It's snowing out El."

Gabriella giggled. "I love the snow."

"No you don't," Troy tried to convince.

Gabriella rolled her eyes while withdrawing her waiting hand. "That's you who doesn't like the snow Troy." Gabriella sighed dramatically, and said in a disappointed tone, "But if you don't want to walk me up to my apartment then you can just wait here. I'll be all alone and if something happens then—"

"Let's go," Troy said with a smirk. "But since it's my birthday I think I deserve to have dessert early."

Gabriella's eyes went wide as Troy knew that she understood what he meant. "Now?" She hissed in a whisper so the creepy taxi driver couldn't hear.

Troy put his arm around her, pulling her in closer for everyone on the streets to see. He knew that the driver was smirking because of dirty images going through his mind, and it was time for them to ditch the cab. "Yes," Troy said simply. Troy reached in through the open passenger window and gave the driver a fifty. "Keep the change—Now Ella, I want you so bad, and I think dinner can wait."

"Troy, we're already twenty minutes late," Gabriella nearly whined as they started walking towards the door that led to the lobby of her apartment building.

Troy grinned while nipping at her ear. He kept his arm firmly around her shoulders to let all passing people know that Gabriella was with him. "Ella, you said that you already called the restaurant and told them that we would be late. Plus, my grandpa owns the chain of restaurants. We can get any table at any time."

They stepped into the elevator. "But you know I hate using our status' to gain something we don't deserve."

"It's my birthday and we've been together for two years and three months. We've survived petty fights, ex girlfriends and boyfriends, our families meeting and _actually_ liking each other, and we've survived our friends' pressures of getting hitched. I think we deserve a little spoiled treatment."

Gabriella stroked Troy's cheek as they came closer to her floor. She leaned up unexpectedly and pressed a kiss to his mouth. Troy had a feeling that he was managing to convince Gabriella very well that they should just stay in and do other activities besides going to their favorite restaurant, but the smirk on her face told him otherwise.

"You're cute Troy Bolton, but I'm not that easy."

Troy pouted. "I'm only cute?"

He put his two hands on her waist, blocking her into the wall of the elevator. "You're sweet, charming, loving, passionate, hot, sexy…"

Before Troy could lean down to connect their lips the bell went off, indicating that they were supposed to step out of the enclosed space. He groaned with frustration while she giggled with mirth.

"Come on Birthday Boy. This will only take a second."

They walked down the hallway, and when they came to Gabriella's blue door he looked at her in confusion as she knocked first before twisting the door handle.

"El, you should really lock—"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Numerous voices screamed once the lights were turned on. Troy felt Gabriella let go of his hand as she joined the people who he was closest too in her living room. He beamed with pride as his eyes connected with Gabriella's. It was very obvious that she put a lot of thought into this as there were streamers covering her walls, poster boards with pictures from the past years adorning her living room and dining room, and a lot of snacks and drinks crammed into her kitchen.

"Troy, my man, you should have seen your face!" Chad clapped him on the back as he was the first to come forward in greeting. There had to have been at least fifty people in Gabriella's apartment. "Happy birthday dude!"

"Did you help plan this?" Troy asked over the music, laughing, and conversing of people who all wanted to get to Troy to greet him.

Chad nodded his head excitedly. "Gabs and I worked together. It was her idea, but she let me help with the pictures."

Troy did his 'guy' handshake with Chad and looked around the room again. He spotted Gabriella talking to his father and mother in the corner of the room, her smile on her face making her look even more beautiful. Gabriella must have felt him looking because she turned and gave him two thumbs up. He saluted her with two fingers—something the couple did to make sure that everything was okay with one another when they were separate at social gatherings—and winked at her.

"Let's get you a drink man," Chad chirped in happily. "Because if I have to watch you and Gabs do that special code all night then I need to be drunk."

Troy laughed gleefully.

It was official. He had the coolest girlfriend ever.

* * *

Gabriella's alarm went off and both she and Troy went to turn it off. No matter if the alarm was on Gabriella's side on the bed, Troy still leaned over her and beat her to the task. He looked down at Gabriella who was slowly opening her eyes, and smirked when he watched her become fully awake.

"Hello beautiful. Have a good sleep?"

Gabriella smiled while reaching up to push some of the hair out of Troy's eyes. "I'm supposed to be asking you that. After all, it was your birthday. I specifically set this alarm so that I could get up and make you breakfast. And I still won't be able to get up considering you're above me right now."

"I can think of something else to eat besides your famous waffles," Troy said in what he hoped was a sexy voice.

"We have Chad, Sharpay, and your brother Dylan passed out in our living room. I don't think it would appropriate if—"

"Gabs!" Chad pounded on the bedroom door. Troy shut his eyes in annoyance and leaned down so that their foreheads connected.

Gabriella chuckled. "I was anticipating this," she whispered.

"Maybe if we're quiet then he'll go away. He's probably just demanding you for waffles."

"I know you two are up. That alarm clock is very loud. I was promised Belgium Waffles for helping you last night, and I expect to be paid right now!" He knocked again and Troy groaned.

"Go away Chad!" He hissed.

Chad barged right into the room with a smirk on his face. Gabriella grabbed the sheet to make sure that her whole body was covered as Troy didn't bother covering any exposed body parts, knowing that would get Chad to leave sooner.

"Dude, cover up!" Chad placed his hand over his eyes. "Gabi, I'm starving and I have to go into work—unlike this bastard here—and I'm hungry."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Leave so I can at least put something on and then I'll make you guys all breakfast."

Chad smiled. "Thanks, and by the way, you don't have to worry about covering yourself up. I don't want to put an even bigger strain on you."

Troy chucked a pillow at Chad, hitting him square in the head. Chad laughed while Troy warned him to get out. "I'm just kidding. I am totally in love with Sharpay, and she would kill me if she even heard me say what I just said."

"Chad?" Troy asked.

"Yeah man?"

"Get out."

"Will do, boss."

* * *

Troy's plan was to stay in bed all day, but with his brother and family in town he had no other choice but to spend the day with them. Of course, his father also wanted to go to the office and see how everything was running, and so that was the first stop on the tour of the city.

Troy received the phone call from his mother that morning, wanting to know if Dylan was okay, not knowing that this wasn't the first time his little brother had been drunk in New York City. He really just wanted to spend the day with Gabriella, but she insisted that he go and be a good son and brother. She had told him that she was just going to stick around her place and clean up anyways, and so there was no use for him to be around her when it was cleaning day.

Of course his family invited Gabriella to come along, but his girlfriend always seemed to be able to get out of family affairs whenever she wanted too. She was great at convincing people that she had other things to do, but she really was sorry for not being able to participate. Troy had pleaded with her to come along, but Gabriella was strong in resisting him. She had her own parents in town, and they had something to discuss with her. Troy was skeptic, but let it slide as he knew that her parents were very protective of Gabriella, and at times, Troy was not one of their favorite people.

Troy never expected walking into her apartment and hearing her sniffling. He immediately shut the door and locked it before rushing over to Gabriella who was cuddled up on the couch, a blanket wrapped tightly around her. She held a picture in her hand and tear marks evident on her cheeks.

He crouched down in front of her and laid the picture down, not bothering to look at it. His heart and mind were frantic with worry, and he prayed to God that nothing horrible happened because if someone hurt Gabriella then he would have to majorly kick their ass.

"Ella, baby, what's wrong? You have to talk to me here." He clasped their hands together as he situated himself between his legs in a crouching position.

"He's…he's…he's gone Troy," Gabriella whimpered before more tears escaped down her face.

"Who?" Troy asked anxiously. "El, you're freaking me out. Who's gone?"

"Puffer!" Gabriella managed to exclaim before going into another hysteric cycle of crying and clutching of the photo.

Troy's eye brows drooped in before he realized who she was talking about. He looked at the photo in her hand and saw the little ball of white fur being held by Gabriella who was approximately sixteen in the photo. "Puffer was still alive?"

"Well not anymore he isn't!" Gabriella yelled. "My parents had to put him down. He was hit by a car and dragged for three blocks before the car stopped."

Troy breathed out in relief that no one had died. "Thank God," he whispered while wiping away her tears with the pad of his thumb. He took the picture from Gabriella's hands, deciding it would be best if she didn't look at it anymore. "I thought something bad happened. You scared me half to death Ella."

Gabriella narrowed her eyes as she processed Troy's words. "Puffer is _dead_ Troy! Of course something bad happened!"

"Ella, he was a dog that lived well past his years. You got him when you were fifteen. You were only at home with him for three years before going off to college. And then after school you weren't even home as you've been here in New York for four years. You hardly knew the dog."

Gabriella got off the couch, pushing Troy away slightly so that he fell back on his hands, nearly landing on his ass in his crouching position. "I can't believe you Troy," she snarled. "I loved that dog. I was the one who picked him out and took him home. I was the one who trained him when he was just a puppy."

Troy stood up and wiped his hands on his jeans. "I know that, but surely you grew apart from that dog and—" Troy looked as Gabriella glared at him for not calling the dog by his name, and so he backtracked in his sentence, "from Puffer and now he's in a better place. I'm sure, if it makes you feel any better, it probably forgot about you in its last couple of years? It probably had memory loss or something."

"_It_ has a name. Puffer was my dog! And I'm sorry that I didn't visit my family! I'm sorry that I just never found time to travel to Washington and spend a week with my family unlike you who gets to travel for work every couple of months!"

"Relax," Troy said as he watched Gabriella breath irregularly. "Just relax for me baby. I'll fix this; just don't get so worked up."

Gabriella opened her mouth to scream at Troy. She was hurting and it seemed as if he just didn't understand, but then something snapped in her, and she was no longer in the mood to yell. She just needed to leave before she said something she regretted.

"Obviously you have never lost anything or anyone in your life," Gabriella stated icily. "And until you lose someone that you love, you will never understand what I feel when it comes to death."

Troy watched helplessly as he Gabriella walked out of her apartment. He knew he royally fucked up. She was right, however, seeing as he had never experienced a death. He had no pets when growing up, no dying relatives as a teenager, and to most people, his life was pretty much perfect. The closest thing that compared to losing someone in Troy's life was the moments he had to watch Gabriella walk away from him.

* * *

Troy had acted fast. He had a pocket load of money and he put it to good use. He only hoped Gabriella returned home soon so that he could show her what he had done. Troy was sure that Gabriella would jump on him the moment she saw what he had bought.

He sat in her living room, watching the box with holes poked into the sides move a little. Troy's wish had been granted as he heard the lock on the door click and Gabriella's heels step into the apartment.

"Ella, you've been gone for a while. I was starting to get worried." Troy stood up and nervously and ran his hand through his hair.

Gabriella froze in her spot. She was planning on passing Troy and going straight to her bedroom, but the box that moved a little caught her attention. Troy followed her gaze and smiled.

"I got you something."

"Is that box moving?" She whispered with awe.

Troy grinned even bigger. "Hell yeah it is. Why don't you open it?"

"I'm still mad at you," was her simple response. "I'm still so mad and disappointed…and now I'm getting worked up again."

"Please just open it Ella. I think he's getting restless." Troy waited for his words to register, and chuckled as he saw Gabriella's eyes go wide with realization.

"You didn't Troy!" She exclaimed, but not with anger. Instead her statement was filled with surprise and giddiness. She knelt down near the box and quickly opened it like a child at Christmas time. "Oh my God!"

The puppy's head poked up from the box before Gabriella instantly grabbed the small animal. "I bought him. I searched all over the city and I finally found the perfect puppy. He's about six years old and in good shape too."

Gabriella looked up at him with glossy eyes. "Is he a mix between two breeds?"

Troy nodded his head eagerly before kneeling down next to the new puppy and Gabriella. "Yup. He's half Boxer and half Labrador. I got him for you and…for us."

"Troy," Gabriella was nearly speechless, "You don't like animals."

"I can learn to like this guy. After all, he has to stay at my apartment because your landlord is a prick who wouldn't accept my payment."

"Payment?"

"Yeah," Troy looked down at the dog in Gabriella's arms and smiled a little. "Dogs aren't allowed in either of our apartments, and so when I tried to pay off your landlord he flipped shit, but when I talked to mine, he willingly agreed as long as the dog was trained."

"He's beautiful Troy," Gabriella gushed. "I can't believe this. No one has ever done this for me before."

Gabriella carefully put the puppy back into the large sized box and looked at Troy. He gently touched her cheek with a smile on his own face. "I wanted to make you happy Ella. We can raise him together and he's already enrolled in Doggy Training. We have to take him once a week on Monday nights, but if that doesn't work for you then I'm sure we can arrange for private lessons, and—"

Gabriella silenced Troy's ramblings with a kiss on the lips. "He's perfect Troy. Just like you," she blushed while saying this, but Troy felt joy swell in his heart that he managed to fix the mess he created. "I'm sorry for this afternoon—"

"Hey, no apologies from you missy. This is my big moment where I apologize to you because you're absolutely right. I have never lost anyone in my life before. I don't know what it feels like, and I never want to know what the feeling is. And maybe I let my distaste for animals get in the way of my reaction this afternoon, but I'm sure that I can change my ways with animals once we start raising this little guy here...together."

Gabriella giggled, touched beyond belief that Troy would think to do this for her. "Troy, he's not going to be little forever. In fact, he's already grown if he's six months old."

"How big is he going to get?" Troy asked with disbelief.

"Between a medium sized dog and a large dog," Gabriella explained. "It depends which parent he takes after."

Troy hid his surprise by tentatively petting the dog on the head. "You want to name him?"

"Really?" Gabriella asked excitedly.

Troy nodded his head, slipping his hand around Gabriella's. "Yup. I trust you completely with choosing a name."

Gabriella scooted closer to Troy, a squeal escaping her when he decided to just pick her up and set her on his lap. He pressed his fact against her neck, kissing lightly before glancing back up to see the puppy looking closely at them.

"I have the perfect name."

Troy waited for her to continue, but when she didn't he turned his head to look at her. "Well? What is it?"

"Troy Junior."

Troy quickly searched Gabriella's face to see if she was kidding, but there was no amusement coating her features. She was completely serious about this issue.

She was naming their dog after him.


	4. I've Got it All Under Control

_4. I've got it all under control._

"Ella, have I told you how confusing it is when you call the dog over by you but then I think that you're actually calling me?" Troy asked lightly as he entered his living room, carrying two plates filled with macaroni and cheese.

Gabriella smiled up at him, and it was when he saw the smile on her face that he was reminded of the reason why he actually planned that night.

Troy Junior perked his head up from the floor. He was busy lying in his dog bed, contently chewing on his dog bone that Gabriella insisted on giving him. Gabriella leaned over the couches edge and patted Troy Junior on the head.

"I'm sorry baby. You know that I'm trying to train him to answer to the name TJ. He's just not picking up the concept of answering me back." Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy when he sat down, gently pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"I know," Troy said before giving Gabriella her plate of food. "He's really come a long way, hasn't he?"

Gabriella beamed with pride. "Yup. I have to admit that I'm a little surprised that you're actually participating in the training though."

Troy settled his arm around Gabriella's shoulders while he rested his plate of food in his lap. "Well it seems TJ is too. I don't think he likes it when I keep you all to myself." Troy chuckled as he remembered numerous times where Gabriella and he just wanted to be alone, but then Troy Junior intervened by jumping in the middle.

Gabriella looked at Troy with a smile he knew all too well. He smirked as he carefully ran his knuckles across her cheek. "I have a surprise for you, but I'll need your help, and maybe Chad's with setting it up."

"I'm very intrigued now," Troy said with amusement at how excited Gabriella sounded. "What's the big surprise?"

Troy had no clue that Gabriella would present him with a surprise since he had his own surprise of his own. He was going to ask her to move in with him. It only made sense that they move in together because they spent most of their time at his apartment anyways. Besides, they had Troy Junior to take care of and they couldn't bring him to Gabriella's place, and so Troy's apartment would have to be okay for the couple for the time being to live in.

"I bought a new TV!" Gabriella paused, waiting for Troy's reaction which never came, and so she started to ramble. "It's a plasma fifty inch TV which will go perfectly in my new entertainment center. It's so much bigger than my TV now, and when I went into Best Buy yesterday the saleslady was so nice, and now I have a new TV. You'll love it Troy."

If he wasn't about to ask her to move in with him then he would have been thrilled. He was a guy who loved electronics. Since he started taking over his father's business he found that playing games with Chad seemed to take stress away, and it helped if they had a good TV to use. Gabriella was providing an excellent TV, but now Troy just saw it as an inconvenience. If the TV was set up then that meant she was getting even cozier in her apartment, and if she got cozier then she wouldn't want to leave.

Troy couldn't think of a reason for Gabriella wanting to move in with him if he helped her set up her new TV.

"Troy?" Gabriella asked with worry.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Yeah?"

"You zoned out. So what do you think? Can you help set it up tomorrow?"

Troy gritted his teeth and forced a smile. "Yeah El. Of course I can help. I'll even provide lunch for us. We'll have a picnic in your living room."

Gabriella smiled gleefully. "Thank you so much, but you can't forget that we have to get ready for your brother's birthday party. We have to leave around four so that way we can get to the party by seven."

Troy shut his eyes in annoyance. "I totally forgot about that. I can't believe Dylan is going to be nineteen. Did we get him a gift? You know I hate just giving money and gift cards."

Gabriella finished chewing the food in her mouth. "We got him a couple of shirts, a pair of nice sunglasses, and two tickets to a basketball game that consists of his favorite team playing."

"Good," Troy murmured as he thought of what Gabriella said. He was so thankful that she was around to remember things like this. He felt guilty for forgetting about his brother's birthday. Although they were eight years apart, Troy and Dylan were close and not getting him a gift would have upset Troy more.

Gabriella leaned in so that her mouth was right by Troy's ear. "Also, after all the adults leave and we're alone with Dylan, you can give him the pack of beer that I put in your closet earlier this week," Gabriella whispered while nibbling lightly on Troy's earlobe.

Troy grinned. "Dylan loves you already, and now you're tempting him with beer? My parents would kill me if they found out that we're giving him alcohol."

"So you think it's a bad idea? I mean, he's not exactly innocent and your parents know that, but—"

"I think it's perfect." Troy cut Gabriella off with a kiss. "Thank you so much for taking care of this."

Gabriella smiled while turning back to her food. "No problem. Dylan's like a brother to me too, and so it's only natural that I would pick out a birthday gift."

"You spoil me too much," Troy said cheekily, all thoughts of his plan failing being pushed to the back of his mind.

"Well now we just have to make sure that you're on time tomorrow to set up my TV and then we can spend a nice romantic lunch together," Gabriella said.

* * *

Troy hadn't woken up the next morning because Gabriella accidentally kicked him. He hadn't woken up because the alarm went off at a ridiculous hour. And he most certainly hadn't woken up because Gabriella surprised him with a morning blowjob. Instead, he was wide awake because of Troy Junior's constant licking of the face.

Troy knew that this day wasn't going to be a good one. Instead of packing and spending a calm day with Gabriella, he was going to be helping her settle into her apartment even more. His plan of slowly drawing her out of her home did not work, and now he was supposed to act okay with the situation. Of course, telling her about his feelings and unsaid plan was out of the picture. There was just no way that he could tell her that he wanted her to move in without her freaking out on him about buying something as big as a TV. Especially for what she paid for the TV, she would not want to move now.

After being woken up Troy went through his usual morning routine for the day. He ate a light breakfast, went to the gym, and then showered. He opted to just wear baggy blue jeans and a t-shirt from college, knowing that he could always change in the car that was taking him to his brother's birthday party up North. That was one of the perks that came with being wealthy in the city; Gabriella and he no longer had to worry about driving themselves when traveling longer distances than normal. Instead, they could hire a driver and car since the Boltons had a car service on call at all hours of the day.

But just as Troy was about to leave for Gabriella's, he noticed that something didn't smell right in his apartment. He looked around for Troy Junior, but he was nowhere to be seen. Troy had a funny feeling in his stomach which always sent alarms going off in his head. It wasn't until Troy located Troy Junior in his bedroom that he knew why the apartment smelled funny.

Troy Junior had decided that Troy's bed was his new bathroom.

And so when Troy had finally been able to leave his house after putting all of his bed blankets in the laundry he knew he was already forty minutes late. When he knocked lightly on Gabriella's door and opened it without much effort he knew that she wouldn't be happy. She hated when people weren't on time. It was one of her biggest pet peeves.

"Ella, I'm here now," Troy called out as he located the TV box in the middle of her living room.

Gabriella came strolling down the hallway, wearing nothing but a towel that reached only her mid-thigh. Her hair was down in wet natural curls, and her eyes read danger.

She didn't comment on how late he was though. Troy could only hope that she saw how tired he was. After all, he only received five hours of sleep compared to his usual eight, and he prayed that maybe she would take pity on him.

"The stuff's in the living room already. Everything you need should be there." Gabriella looked Troy over and he gave her a weak smile.

It was bad enough that he didn't want to be at her place setting up the stupid TV, but now he knew that she was annoyed with him for being late, and he didn't blame her. If she was forty minutes late without a phone call then he would be a little upset too.

"I tried to call from the cab but it seems as if my phone decided to die on me. I have to charge it here," Troy explained with a little edge to his voice. He was already getting defensive as if Gabriella had yelled at him, but she hadn't.

"You know you're welcome to anything here. That includes using my electricity," Gabriella matched his tone. She couldn't help that she felt a little annoyed. The day before Troy went on and on about how perfect their afternoon would be, but then he was forty minutes late, and he knew that was her biggest pet peeve.

"I'll just get started then." He then added under his breath, "I want to get this over with."

"Did you say something?" Gabriella called to him as she made her way to her kitchen. "Did you want anything to drink?"

"Water would be good, thanks," he called back to her before settling himself down on the floor, next to the project that would cause more frustration in his life.

* * *

It was supposed to be a simple project. The instructions were supposed to tell him step-by-step directions on how to receive signal so that Gabriella could view more than just two channels, but Troy was starting to believe that God really hated him that day.

After nearly two hours of cursing, poking, probing, and kicking of the stupid TV Troy was convinced it just wasn't possible. Although, he wasn't about to tell Gabriella that. He didn't want her to think that he was a complete idiot who couldn't read an easy manual.

"How's it coming?" Gabriella asked.

Troy turned his head to glance at her. She was wearing a sexy blue dress that wrapped around her body and curves. "I've got it all under control," Troy said through closed teeth, trying not to get so worked up again.

Gabriella sensed Troy's bitterness again and sighed. "Troy, just give it a rest. We have to leave in ten minutes or else we're going to be late."

"Ella, just let me work on this. I swear I'll get it working."

Troy turned completely around again, not paying attention to Gabriella. It was obvious that his word was final on the matter. He continued to poke at a wire while he grunted the next sentence, "Your pet peeve about being late is kind of pointless for tonight since Dylan won't even notice if we're they're or not."

Gabriella crossed her arms. "Troy, I know that once you set your mind to an idea then you like to finish it, but I'm getting in that car when it arrives whether you're with me or not. I get that you're upset, but please do not tell me that you have it all under control when you obviously don't. We can just wait until Chad can help you later this week."

Troy slammed the screwdriver he was holding down on the ground, making Gabriella flinch unexpectedly. He sat up fully, looking at her again with narrowed eyes. "You don't get why I'm upset. Hell, I don't even know why I'm this upset." He stood up and wiped his hands off on his jeans. "But I do know that I hate this TV. It's pointless and there's no valid reason why you bought it."

He walked past her as if everything was normal and headed into her kitchen to clean up his empty water glass. Gabriella was hot on his trail, her mouth open in shock.

"I bought it because of you Troy! You're always saying how you hate your TV at home because it's too small, but then you never have time to go to the store to buy another one. I was thinking that maybe…" Gabriella trailed off and shook her head, changing her next sentence completely, "You know what? I don't need to explain myself to you. It's not as if this TV will affect you that much anyways. It's not like you'll have to look at it every day because we live together or anything."

"Is that what you want?" Troy demanded, taking a step closer to her. "You want to live together?"

Gabriella nearly pulled out her hair from frustration at how dense Troy could be when it came to things like living together. "Yes! Of course I want to live with you! I thought you were going to ask me to move in after you bought Troy Junior and that was why I have been giving you hints, but apparently I am just a fool when it comes to you!"

Troy softened his posture, his lips curling slightly in a small smile. "You're not a fool Ella."

"Well then what am I? I bought a fucking TV that I don't want. I got it for you, thinking that if we did move in together, then we could share it. I wouldn't have to listen to you complain anymore," Gabriella admitted quietly. "I basically have all my clothes at your place, I know all of your neighbors, and sometimes my mail is even delivered to your apartment. So why am I not officially living with you?"

Troy closed the distance between them and cupped her face with his two hands. He pressed a kiss to her lips before smiling. "We're not living together because I am a very stupid boyfriend sometimes."

"You're not stupid…You can be clueless sometimes, but you're never stupid," Gabriella scolded lightly, bringing her own hands up to rest over Troy's.

"I want you to live with me. I've wanted to say that for a while but then I was afraid of what you'd say, and things have been so good for us, and I didn't want to rock the boat," Troy confessed with a chuckle. "And I know Troy Junior wants you to move in."

"He's a dog Troy. I don't think he really cares who lives with him as long as he's fed and played with," Gabriella teased.

"I wasn't talking about our dog. I was talking about my Troy Junior," he cheekily said before pressing his lips to hers once more. He silenced her chiding and embarrassed giggles by molding his body to hers and entering his tongue into her mouth.

Troy felt Gabriella sink into the kiss, her body relaxing against his, the smile on both of their faces making it somewhat difficult to kiss, however, they were saved by Troy's phone going off, letting them know that the car was downstairs and ready to go.

"Will you move in with me Ella?" Troy asked, panting slightly.

Gabriella smiled up at him, nodding her head eagerly. "Yes. Of course."

"Good. Now come on. We don't want to be late," Troy said while taking her by the hand to lead her to the door.

"I think we can be late just this once," Gabriella said, making Troy freeze in his step. "We still have to talk about this TV."

Troy sighed while rolling his eyes playfully. "As you move into my apartment I promise to ask Chad for help. He's a lot better with technology than me."

"That's all I ask," Gabriella said sweetly. She touched Troy's cheek lightly. "And please, next time, don't tell me that you have everything under control when you obviously don't. I don't like it when we're annoyed with each other."

"That makes two of us. In fact, I think we should kiss to make everything better." Troy drew her in again.

"Troy," Gabriella slapped his chest carelessly, "the car is downstairs waiting."

He nuzzled his nose in her clean hair. "You're the one who said we could be late. I'm just choosing to hold you to your word."

Gabriella laughed as he hoisted her up so that she was sitting on her counter.

"Troy Bolton, what am I going to do with you?"

"Love me Ella. That's all I'm asking you to do." Troy looked intently at Gabriella, all teasing gone from his blue eyes. "Love me for everything I'm going to say wrong in the future, and everything I've said in the past that never came out right."

"Always."

There was no hesitation within Gabriella while Troy held her.


	5. You'reNotOneOfThoseFeminists,AreYou?

**Author's Note-I just want to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I love that people are enjoying this as I really love writing it. It's different from anything that I've ever written before. Also, just a heads up, this chapter is mostly a flashback as the thing you're not supposed to say to a woman works best if I go back into time and have them argue, than having it in present day. I hope that makes sense.**

* * *

_5. You're not one of those feminists, are you?_

Troy could hardly believe that Gabriella was moving in with him. Although the boxes of her things were a perfect reminder of how far they had come in their relationship, Troy was still having trouble believing that things were working for them.

He had never really gone this far with a girlfriend before. The longest relationship he had before Gabriella had been only nine months, but yet, Gabriella and he had been dating for exactly two and a half years.

Troy could still remember his very first date with Gabriella. It was easy to recall since that was the first mini argument they had together. To some, if there was an argument on the first date then that would be the end of the relationship, but there was just something about Gabriella when she got irritated that turned him on. She always kept him on his toes and was not afraid to be her unique self around him. He liked that in a woman. It was a change from when he was at work and all his employees were scared to stand up to him even though they were all mostly older than his twenty-seven year old self.

Troy started the process of shaving while standing in his bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Gabriella was in the kitchen, making coffee, even though it was early in the evening. He smiled as he hoped she wore the same dress that evening as the first time he took her out.

* * *

_Two and a half years previous;  
Troy's and Gabriella's first date together._

The night time had been slightly chilly since it was in the middle of November. Troy had called Gabriella three days pervious, just like he told her he would when they met at the gym. He liked that she seemed easy to talk to and she didn't have a whiny voice like most of the girls he dated in the past had.

They had decided, against Troy's wishes, that Gabriella would meet him outside the restaurant since she didn't want to put him through trouble by having his driver pick her up. He had tried convincing her that there was no trouble at all, but she insisted that she get her own taxi just to be careful.

Troy had spotted her right away. She was wearing a black dress with light pink trim around the top and bottom hem. A small amount of cleavage was showing, just enough to tease Troy's imagination, and her black cotton jacket covered the rest of her dress, making Troy guess how much skin she was willing to show off.

"Hey Gabriella. I hope you weren't waiting long," Troy said with a smile. "You look amazing."

Gabriella blushed and giggled. Troy would learn soon enough that hearing her laugh would be the most amazing noise ever. "I actually just got here, and thanks. You look pretty amazing too."

Troy was wearing black suit pants that he wore to work that day and a button up dress shirt. He decided against a tie since he had been wearing one all day. "Shall we?" He offered her his hand, Gabriella accepting it right away.

Like a gentleman, Troy held the door open for Gabriella. He also waited for the elderly couple to pass through the door. Troy grinned as he watched Gabriella hold open the next set of doors for the other couple. The place they were eating at had double doors before one could actually reach the podium that held a big book of reservations on it.

Troy stepped up to Gabriella who was still holding the door. He placed his hand on the lower part of her back while gripping the door higher up so that she could walk through. "Go ahead," he directed.

Gabriella shook her head with the same beautiful smile she had on before. "I've got it. You held the door before, and now it's my turn to pay you back," she joked as if it were some big deal.

"You go ahead. You're the lady, and so it would make sense for me to hold the door," Troy insisted.

"Troy, it's seriously not a big deal. You go first."

Troy's smiled tightened. "Okay." Once he walked through Gabriella followed and took her position at his side again. "Thanks, I guess."

Troy went up to the man behind the podium, already knowing him from eating at the restaurant many times before. Also, it helped if your grandfather owned the place. Troy could feel Gabriella's eyes on him, and so he turned to flash her a grin.

"Let me show you to your seats Mr. Bolton. Follow me please."

After they were led to their seats everything else had gone smoothly. They had chatted away, not even realizing that they had hardly looked at the menu. And so when their waiter had come, given Gabriella a once over, Troy noticing that the waiter was appreciating her looks, and asked for their food choices, both Troy and Gabriella drew a blank.

Troy quickly glanced at the menu, ordering one of the well-known wines in hope that Gabriella would appreciate it, before he ordered his favorite meal for himself. He looked at Gabriella, trying to decide what she would like since she looked as if she didn't know what was even offered.

"And for Gabriella, she'll take a salad with dressing on the side, and the lobster," Troy ordered as Gabriella put down her menu to smirk at him.

"Actually," she cut in. "I'll take the soup instead of salad, with your stuffed chicken." She handed the waiter her menu. "Thank you."

Troy looked at her as they were soon left to themselves again. He had requested for the table in the backroom which was private, hoping that there would be no distractions around them, and Troy was confident that he made the right decision because now it was just him and Gabriella again.

"Thank you for trying to order for me but I don't like salad, and I'm not really into lobster either. Other sea food I can manage to force down, but if I can avoid it, then I do my best to not eat it," Gabriella explained.

"But you like wine, right? I don't really feel like drinking it all by myself. I did that last night," Troy joked.

Gabriella giggled. "I do enjoy a good glass of wine. I can't have too many. I wouldn't want you to take advantage of me," Gabriella teased back.

After dinner Troy and Gabriella still hadn't left the restaurant. Gabriella was starting to get worried that they were holding up the table and that another customer might want to eat in the room, but Troy reassured her that everything was okay. He specifically asked to reserve the whole room for the whole night. Bob, the one in charge of the customers and seating, was more than willing to allow Troy that room for the night. He knew that Troy was one of the better customers, although, he usually only brought family or customers for his company to the restaurant, and never a date.

"So, I can't believe I haven't asked you this, yet you know nearly everything about me, but what do you do for a living? Unless of course, you haven't figured it out because we're both still young and I really don't mean to pry," Troy rambled. He knew that it was fairly unusual for someone their age to have figured out their lifelong careers.

Gabriella stiffened a little bit, but Troy thought nothing of it. "Actually, you promise you won't get freaked out or anything because we already have a lot in common, and my job is just going to be another similar thing between us?"

"You're not like, a killer, are you?" Troy chuckled.

"No, I'm not a killer. I'm a journalist. Our careers kind of run in the same circle."

Troy would have never guessed that she was a writer. He knew that she would be something successful because from just talking to her for the first minute at the gym days ago it was obvious that she was mature, sophisticated, and determined, but he just never pictured her as a book and writer kind of girl.

"I write for a small paper that's made just for our city. My work is trying to branch out, but it's proving to be a lot more difficult than what some people thought," Gabriella explained.

"Well if you ever want any tips then you can always ask me. I would love to hear more about it some other time," Troy said with pure honestly.

Gabriella smiled, however, within seconds it dropped and her face twisted with shock. "Is that the real time?" She asked stupidly.

Troy turned around and looked at the clock. He smirked, "Yeah, I guess it's later than what we thought." The clock indicated that it was already midnight.

"Shoot," Gabriella said while reaching for her purse. "I have such an early morning tomorrow. I have to go."

She was standing before he could even process what she said. "How early?" Troy stood up and walked around the table, having the intention of reaching for her jacket to assist her in putting it on, but frowned once Gabriella's quick hands grabbed the jacket and flung it on effortlessly.

"I have to be up by five."

Troy's eyes widened as he wished she would have told him that sooner. He wanted to reach out and put a stray curl behind her ear while she dug through her purse for something, but he resisted. "Why so early?"

"There's a meeting outside of town, and I have to go to it. One of the other ladies that work at the newspaper is out sick and so I told her that I would take over some of her tasks." Gabriella finally stopped digging through her purse and produced a crisp twenty and ten dollar bill. "Here you go Troy. This should cover my half."

Gradually over the evening Gabriella would outdo him by getting her own taxi, holding open the door, pulling out her own chair, ordering for herself, and now she was offering to pay for her meal which Troy was more than happy to pay for. It was irritating while charming at the same time, but looking at her hand filled with money, forced Troy to be more irritated than charmed.

He gently pushed her hand away. "No Gabriella," he said firmly. "I asked you to come, and so I'm more than willing to pay." When he saw the slight pout on her face he then continued. "You aren't one of those feminists, are you?" He meant to be funny, but at the same time he wanted to know the truth.

She crossed her arms with defiance. "And what if I am a feminist? Do you have a problem with that?"

"I wouldn't call it a problem," Troy said but instantly knew that what he said was the wrong thing.

Gabriella's nostrils flared at this. "I can't believe you just admitted to being against equal rights."

"I did not say anything like that," Troy defended himself. "I just said I don't have a problem. It's not a big deal."

Gabriella shook her head. "Obviously it is if you're upset that I like to hold the door open for other people, or I like to order off the menu myself! I am a big girl. I think I can do things by myself."

"I get the ordering off the menu thing, but usually the guy holds open the door. And usually the guy pays for the meal." Troy emphasized his point by pulling out his wallet and throwing two fifties down.

Gabriella reached out with anger and swiped one of the fifties and instead replaced it with her money. "Maybe we shouldn't consider this a date then. After all, I don't date jerks." She shoved the fifty dollar bill back into Troy's hand.

Hearing Gabriella call him a name made Troy even more frustrated with the whole situation. He watched her take a couple of steps before he opened his mouth again. "Gabriella?"

She froze in her spot, her back turned towards him. "What?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"If you really wanted to pay for half than you're twenty dollars short. The reason I put down one hundred dollars is because I like to leave a nice tip." Troy smirked as there was just something about the way Gabriella moved while angry that turned him on.

She walked up to him and it was at that point where Troy thought he was going to be slapped. She smiled—which reminded him so much of a cat going in for the attack—and slowly dropped another twenty dollar bill in his hand. When she closed his hand to make sure that he accepted it, his other hand came up and steadily rubbed against her soft skin.

"I can safely assume you know how to get a taxi?" Troy asked huskily.

Gabriella ripped her hand away from Troy, her face faltering, and instead of showing her anger, she actually looked hurt. "I thought you were different from anyone I ever met." She seemed to be talking more to herself now while she backed away. "I shouldn't have gone out tonight."

* * *

Troy groaned for what felt like the millionth time that night. He couldn't keep his mind off of Gabriella and his date with her seven nights ago. And so to get his mind off of the disastrous date, Chad had decided to take Troy out to get a drink and maybe hook up with a woman for a carefree night. But Troy didn't want to be sitting at the bar drinking with his best friend. He wanted to be at home, drinking by himself, and watching a sports game.

"Dude, you're such a drag tonight." Chad commented before bringing the cold bottle to his lips. "Look around us and take your pick. There are a ton of girls."

Troy just shook his head while looking up at the TV which was playing in the corner of the bar. Although no one could hear the TV, it was still easy to understand what was going on since it was only a basketball game that the bar was showcasing.

"Look dude, there's two chicks over in the corner booth. I'll take the brunette and you can have the blonde. We'll work as a team and send over drinks. Yeah," Chad said with a smile, thinking about his genius plan. "We'll send them over a round of drinks to lure them in."

Troy didn't take his eyes off of the TV screen as he spoke without interest. "And why do you get the brunette?"

"Because," Chad said in a matter-of-fact tone, "You said that Gabriella was a brunette and it's obvious you don't want to be reminded of her. So it's settled then?"

Troy turned to look at Chad. "Do whatever you want as long as it keeps you occupied and quiet."

Chad smirked before calling over the bartender to send a round of drinks over to the women. It had only taken seven minutes before Troy and Chad both noticed that the two girls were standing behind them, one with amused eyes and the other with surprised and angry eyes.

"Hello ladies," Chad greeted before Troy turned around to actually look at the two. Instantly, he nearly dropped his beer in his hand as he recognized the legs that were showing from beneath the red dress. "I'm Chad and this is my friend—"

"Troy fucking Bolton," Gabriella filled in with a snarl.

Chad looked between the two with a confused expression as it seemed like Sharpay already knew what was happening since Gabriella filled her in at the table. Chad looked a little put out that the brunette already knew Troy, but he wouldn't mind settling for the blonde either.

"You two know each other?" Chad questioned.

"Your friend's an idiot," Sharpay said to Chad.

"Hey!" Troy protested before he actually thought about what she said and then looked to Gabriella. She had her hair in her natural curls, going down her back with a form fitting red dress. Although the dress came down to her thighs, Troy thought her legs looked long and hot. He especially loved the heels that she decided to wear to make her look taller. It was then that he found himself realizing that Sharpay was right. He had been thinking that all week, but it only took the blonde to pronounce it so boldly that he realized she was defiantly right and that he actually needed to do something to change his image.

Troy turned to Chad. "Chad, this is Gabriella Montez."

"Oh," was Chad's response. "I need another drink for this shit then."

"Order me one too. I don't like the fruity shit you sent over," Sharpay said, going to the bar and taking the empty seat next to Chad.

Troy snorted. "Please don't tell me that you're like Gabriella and reject _everything_ someone offers you?"

Gabriella stuck her nose in the air. "Shar, I'm gonna head out. It feels too crowded in here. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Are you sure? Because I can come with you?" She offered.

Gabriella shook her head, knowing Troy was watching every move she made. "You stay and have a good time. I have an early morning tomorrow anyways."

Troy watched her leave and then took a long sip from his drink.

"You're not going after her?" Sharpay asked him abruptly.

Troy kinked an eye brow. "Should I? I mean, I don't really know her and…"

"And nothing," Chad said adamantly. "You have been moaning and groaning all week about Gabriella. You obviously like her—even though you sound like a dick—but I'm sick and tired of hearing you complain. Just grow some balls and apologize."

When Troy didn't move Sharpay rolled her eyes. "If it makes you feel any better I'm gonna tell you that Gabriella has done nothing but talk and complain about you too. She goes on and on about you, complaining about how you bugged her, and how close-minded you were. It's very annoying."

"That's supposed to make me go after her? She hates me!" Troy exclaimed.

"You're even dumber than you look. She's ranting about you," Sharpay said as if that explained everything.

"So?" Troy asked.

"_So_," Sharpay slowly said, "in Gabriella's world that means that she likes you. If you're able to draw that big of a reaction out of her then you obviously made a very good impression." Troy still didn't move and Sharpay huffed. "Get the fuck out of here and go after her!"

Troy moved instantly now. He pushed through the crowds of people, making it to the door within ten seconds. He only hoped Gabriella hadn't gotten a hold of a cab yet, and his prayers had been answered the moment he saw her small figure near the curb of the street.

"Gabriella!" He yelled. He saw her tense and wave her arm a little faster for a cab. "Gabriella!" Troy yelled again, jogging over to her so that she couldn't leave. "Don't go. Not yet anyways."

Gabriella turned to look at him with a raised eye brow. "Troy, what the hell are you doing out here? Especially without a jacket. It's cold out."

Troy hadn't realized how cold it actually was until she mentioned that. "I don't care," he lied. "What I do care about is stopping you from leaving this time. I don't want to make the same mistake twice."

Gabriella crossed her arms. "That's bull shit. There is no valid reason why you and I should converse anymore. Our date—if you can even call it that—went horribly. Obviously we just don't mix well together."

"You're right." Gabriella looked taken aback by Troy's comment and he grinned, putting his hands on her crossed arms. "We don't mix well together. In fact, we do the opposite. We fight each other because we're both very passionate about what we believe in. We tested each other the other night to see who would give up first, and obviously that resulted in you leaving before I could kiss you goodbye."

"What?" Gabriella spat out, shocked at Troy's confession.

He nodded very seriously. "Yup, you, Gabriella Montez, bring out the worse and best in me, and I wouldn't have it any other way. And while we were arguing I was trying so hard to contain myself from kissing you, and then by the time we finished arguing, you were already gone and I missed my chance. I refuse to miss it again tonight."

"And if I don't want to kiss you? Do I not get a say in it at all?" She asked, although Troy could see the start of a smile forming on her face.

He took a step closer to her. "I want to redo our date. This time, I'll let you hold the door open for me. I'll even let you order for me," Troy tempted, bringing his mouth closer to hers.

Gabriella smiled fully now. "Do I get to pay for the food too?"

"I think we can arrange that," Troy whispered since he was so close to her face now. "But now I'm going to kiss you and so the talking will have to stop."

His mouth enclosed hers, and while they explored each other his hand slowly reached into his pocket, grabbing the money she left on the restaurant's table, and slipped it into her coat's front pocket.

Their first kiss with each other was the first of many. And when Troy looked into Gabriella's eyes that night he knew that there would be many more fights to come, but he wouldn't want it any other way.

* * *

_Present Day;  
Two and a half year anniversary._

"Troy?" Gabriella called, entering the bathroom, standing behind him while looking into the mirror. She wrapped her arms around his torso, pressing a kiss to his bare skin. "Have I told you how sexy you look while shaving?"

Troy watched Gabriella through the mirror. "Not recently, but others have told me before," he joked before Gabriella lightly hit him in the side.

"Can you believe that it was exactly two and a half years ago that we first started dating?" She asked with a giddy tone. "It was the worse first date ever!"

Troy chuckled. "But yet, at the same time, it was one of the best dates too."

Troy finished shaving, rinsed off his face and then turned to Gabriella who stayed at his side. Sometimes, he still couldn't believe that they made it that far. They fought every once in a while, but they always made it passed the petty arguments. In fact, the fighting made them stronger and his love for Gabriella grew every time they would make up.

"Happy anniversary Ella."

Troy would never admit it out loud, but he secretly hoped that they would fight that night, just so that they could make up with one another and rekindle their relationship even more.


	6. When Are You Due?

_6. When are you due?_

"Ella, your _precious_ dog is doing something weird again!" Troy yelled to Gabriella. He didn't care if he disturbed his next door neighbor. Troy figured that if Nancy heard him yelling then it was counted as payback for all the nights he had to hear her screwing one of her boy toys.

"He's your dog too," Gabriella pointed out while walking into their room, taking off the towel that held her wet curls in a bundle. "How did he get to my underwear this time?"

Troy chuckled as he took in the full scene. He was on their bed, glasses on the bridge of his nose, and laptop in his lap. He had been going over charts Gabriella had created for him, but was soon distracted by Troy Junior who had somehow broken into Gabriella's lingerie drawer and then proceeded to take all her panties and line them up on the ground.

"I have to admit that TJ has good taste. I would be a little worried if he started playing with mine," Troy joked, lightly scratching Troy Junior's head. The dog was finally warming up to Troy, although it was obvious that Troy Junior preferred Gabriella.

Troy winked at Gabriella who scowled in annoyance.

"It's not normal for TJ to do this." Gabriella bent down, making sure Troy didn't get a free peep show from the short towel wrapped around her damp body. "I was going to wear this tonight," Gabriella pouted, holding up a light pink thong.

Troy felt his member twitch at his girlfriend's words. "Babe, don't joke about things like that."

"I'm not joking." Gabriella walked over to the bed and snuggled up to Troy. She peered at the computer screen, smiling that Troy was looking at the profiles she sent him.

Troy wrapped his arm around Gabriella, pressing a kiss to her wet head. "So this is your boss? I feel like I should recognize her."

"That's because you've met her various times. When we went to my work party last year you met her for the first time and then throughout this year you've attended various monthly meetings with her," Gabriella said cheekily.

The newspaper Gabriella wrote for was holding its annual summer work party. All the workers and invited guests were to go to the local bar in town where the whole place was being rented out. Gabriella knew that it was important for her and Troy to look perfect considering she had just been promoted to being in charge of the feature section of the newspaper. That meant her boss, Susan, trusted Gabriella being in charge of seven other people and the stories they wrote.

It was a huge opportunity for her, and so Gabriella wanted to make sure that Troy and she looked good. They would have an awesome appearance if they could fool her coworkers into thinking that _the_ Troy Bolton knew who everyone was, and so in order for Troy to do this, Gabriella had created charts for him to memorize.

"Ah, yes. I should remember meeting her for the first time, but as I recall, we both got smashed that night and we ended up losing your shoes in the cab." Troy's free hand expertly moved the computers curser to the bottom of the screen, clicking on the Facebook tab to expand Gabriella's wall she left up.

"This year has to be different," Gabriella warned as her eyes quickly scanned over the screen, seeing that she had twenty-five friends logged on.

"I remember the sex though," Troy chirped, his hand moving down her arm casually. "That was very hot and kinky sex." He looked at her with excitement and desire circulating within his eyes. "Are you sure this time has to be different?"

Gabriella moved from her position on the bed to continue to pick up the mess Troy Junior had created.

"Not everything has to be different. Of course, if you play your cards right then I'm sure tonight's ending can be a repeat of last year," she said saucily.

Troy moaned in pleasure, but his naughty thoughts were quickly interrupted by the _dinging_ sound his laptop made. He furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to remember who a Tyler Cannon was.

Troy glanced up at the bathroom doorway Gabriella just walked through. "El, who's Tyler Cannon? He's not from work, is he?"

"…No," Gabriella called back before popping her head around the doorway. "He's not from the paper. He's the guy I dated freshmen year of college. Why?"

Troy gritted his teeth. "I wanted to know because he just messaged you asking if you enjoyed your coffee yesterday." Troy took off his reading glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm guessing you ran into him?"

"Guilty," Gabriella said softly. "I bought coffee yesterday, and we accidentally ran into each other, spilling our drinks everywhere. He offered to pay for another one and I was running late, so I let him because I didn't want to spend even more time arguing."

Troy nodded his head, smiling a little as he knew he had nothing to worry about. They had been dating for two years and nine months now, and so Troy could completely trust Gabriella.

"Do you want me to write back?"

She shook her head. "No thanks. You have to get ready and the bathroom is free now. Can you just log me out before you get up?"

Troy smirked, knowing he was Gabriella's top priority and that she couldn't care less if she talked to Tyler again.

"Ella?" He questioned, standing up and stripping of his t-shirt.

"Yeah?"

"If you can't wear your pink thong then you shouldn't worry your pretty head about choosing another item because I know you won't need underwear later tonight."

Gabriella's eyes widened at his suggestion. "Are you telling me to…?"

"Yes baby, I'm telling you to wear nothing underneath the sexy dress you bought."

* * *

It never ceased to amaze Troy whenever he saw Gabriella around her coworkers. Whether he was attending a meeting that Gabriella attended, or if he randomly surprised her at work to take her out for lunch, Troy always witnessed the sophisticated, business-like, and serious side of Gabriella. However, no matter how serious Gabriella acted, she still had a fun and witty side to her.

Being at a work party didn't change the way people swarmed his girlfriend. Troy was basically pushed out of the way once they entered the scene.

He smiled, grabbing two beers the bartender gave him. Troy tipped the man and casually pushed his way to Gabriella.

He slung his arm around her shoulders while his other hand placed Gabriella's drink in front of her. She was laughing as she looked at him, and Troy couldn't help but smile back.

"Everyone, this is Troy, my boyfriend. And Troy, this is…everyone." Gabriella chuckled merrily as the seven people around the filled table all smiled at him with their own greetings.

"Hey Charlie," Troy greeted the shocked thirty year old man. "Your wife and kid here?"

"Nah man. Molly's a little too young to be partying with the adults but Lauren is somewhere around here," Charlie answered before the song that was playing around the bar changed and an old nineties song started.

Significant others, mostly the women, turned towards their husbands and boyfriends with a plead in their eyes. Everybody knew it was time to dance, and the look in Gabriella's eye was no different.

"Let's go Ella," Troy murmured. "I want you to dance with me."

Gabriella accepted Troy's hand, following Troy to the dance floor. It was a slow song and so Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy's neck while he let his hands rest low on her hips.

"This reminds me of high school," Troy said, enjoying the way their bodies moved together.

"How so?"

"You're the Prom Queen that everyone is attracted too," Troy explained, "But yet, I'm the King that gets to take you home, or in this case, I get to take you to the nicest hotel in the city and ravish your sexy body."

"Troy, you didn't!" Gabriella exclaimed with surprise. "What about Troy Junior?"

"Chad is staying at our place to take care of him. I've been planning on this night for a while. I happened to book the exact suit that we stayed in the first night we ever spent together."

"That sounds perfect." Gabriella finished her sentence by pressing a kiss to the bottom of Troy's earlobe, nibbling slightly.

"Want to go outside? We can be alone out there," Troy requested, drawing Gabriella in further so that their waists touched.

"We just started dancing," Gabriella pouted before the actual nerves she was feeling showed through her eyes. "I don't think showing PDA is a good idea. I don't want people to think that I approve of such behavior when we're actually working."

"Baby, you do remember how we acted last year, right?" Troy nuzzled his nose against Gabriella's bare neck, breathing in her scent.

He smirked as he heard Gabriella's breathing increase. "It's different now Troy. I'm like the boss of seven other people, and I have to have boundaries when I'm around them. That's why, most of the time, bosses don't go out for drinks with their employees."

Troy stopped touching her completely. "You're right. I'm sorry for pressing myself on you. Let's go make the rounds of greeting everyone."

Troy turned away and mentally counted down from three.

"Wait," Gabriella called out, "We can still go outside and…talk?"

"I don't know," Troy said with mock unwillingness. "If we're alone then I might not be able to keep my hands to myself."

Gabriella gripped onto his hand, yanking him with a force he wasn't expecting.

"Come on Troy," Gabriella urged giddily.

"Where's the fire?" He joked, disconnecting their hands to follow behind her, putting both his hands on her waist.

They hadn't even taken five steps outside before Gabriella turned in his hands, reached up, and pressed a kiss to his smooth jaw. She kissed up his jaw line while he felt her grip the back of his neck.

"You smell like mint and beer," Troy husked out, pushing a curl behind her ear. He tilted her head up, sliding his hands over her cheeks, and pressing his lips against her own. He felt a dire need to taste Gabriella. Troy wanted to be with her in as many ways as possible. "You smell so, so, so good."

His hands reached down, slipping underneath her knee length dress. He gripped her toned legs, squeezing with pleasure.

"Maybe we can…leave. We could say that Chad called us with an emergency," Gabriella suggested. "I think if we said our friend needed our help then everyone will know that we care a lot about our friendships. They'll all think that we're saints."

"Yeah," Troy snorted, trailing his mouth over her neck. "Babe, if we look like saints to everyone then pretty soon they'll start asking us for favors."

Troy knew Gabriella was growing frustrated. He had kept his hands on the inside of her thighs, not going higher or moving in any general direction. "Well then what should we say, Einstein?"

"We're both young adults who have a commitment to one another; I'm just going to say the truth." Before Gabriella could respond, Troy cut in. "That I'm taking my sexy girlfriend for a night of hot, steamy sex."

"Gabriella Montez?" A woman's voice rang out through the night. Troy felt Gabriella instantly tense up beneath his fingertips, however, by the time Troy turned his head to see an older looking woman make her way over to them, Gabriella already was pushing his hands out from underneath her dress.

Troy whipped his head around to look at Gabriella again. She was busy smoothing out her dress as a dark blush coated her cheeks. Troy worked his mind into overtime, trying to remember who this woman was, but by the looks of it, she seemed pretty important.

She was wearing a red business suit, her dark auburn hair was placed in a bun, and her matching red high heels clicked on the ground. She looked to be in her late forties as Troy couldn't help but notice that this unknown woman probably shouldn't be smoking because of being pregnant.

"Hello Susan," Gabriella greeted shakily, still coming down from the high Troy created in her. "Just getting here, I see?"

"Yeah. I had to ditch my husband at home." Susan laughed as if she said something that was funny. "Oh, you know how it is. Sometimes we have to go out without someone attached to our hip. We have to live a little," Susan preached.

"So your husband is home with your kids?" Troy tensely asked. He now could place the woman's face, although the picture he saw of her made her look ten years younger.

Susan laughed with mirth as Gabriella gripped Troy's arm a little harder than normal. He looked at her, smiling slightly to let her know that he would try to behave. In response, Gabriella dug her nails into his arm to warn him one last time.

"Oh honey, you're just a child who doesn't know half the things I go through. If I added kids into the mix then I'm sure I would be crazier."

Troy swore he could smell alcohol on her breath, and that definitely wasn't good for the child she was carrying. Before he had the chance to say anything, however, he tried thinking the best he could to make sure that the profile Gabriella created about Susan mentioned that she was pregnant.

"Oh Susan," Gabriella chimed in with fake happiness. "It was great seeing you, but actually, Troy and I were just leaving. Chad, our close friend, has an emergency, and he needs our help," Gabriella smoothly lied.

"If you don't want kids to hold you back then…nevermind," Troy mumbled, realizing the conversation had changed topics, and he was now just digging his hole.

Susan narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at Troy. "Then?"

Troy accidentally looked down at her stomach that looked like she was at least six months pregnant, but then again, Troy had no idea when it came to pregnancies.

"Nothing. I really don't know where…" Troy bit his tongue again. He at first was going to ask why she was having a kid in the first place, but then he backed out, and then he was going to back out about admitting what he was going to say, and that just wasn't how Troy usually was. He normally spoke his mind and then he worried about the after effects once his opinions were voiced. He smiled as kindly as possible, not being okay with Susan smoking and drinking while carrying a child. "If you're so into partying then why are you having a kid? I'm assuming you'll be with a child in a couple of months, right?"

"I don't know…" Susan looked from Gabriella to Troy. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Troy sighed, ignoring Gabriella who was tugging on his sleeve, whispering for him to 'knock it off.'

"When are you due?" Troy asked bluntly.

"I beg your pardon?" Susan exclaimed. "I know people look up to you Mr. Bolton, but when we're outside of work you don't have the authority to treat people like this." Susan glared at Gabriella who seemed to shrink behind Troy. "And Gabriella, I'll be seeing you at the office on Monday. I realize we have _a lot_ of things to talk about concerning your new position. I'm starting to rethink a couple of things."

Troy and Gabriella watched her storm off, not creating a sound until they were sure that she had marched inside. Troy let out a low whistle before turning to look at Gabriella, offering her his hand. "I'm taking her exit as a sign that says she's not pregnant."

Instead of taking his hand she hit him. "Do you _ever_ have a filter between your mind and mouth? I cannot believe that this is happening."

Troy looked over the top of Gabriella's head and smiled at the black car that pulled up to the curb. "Hey, let's talk about this in the car. It just arrived."

Gabriella stepped away from Troy, pulling her arm away from his reach. "Did you not just hear her, Troy? I told you that we shouldn't have been out here because if we wouldn't have come out here than you wouldn't have opened your damn mouth and asked her that ridiculous question!"

Troy pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ella, let's just get in the car. You're starting to make a scene." Troy reached for her again, but she sidestepped him…_again_. "Baby, do not blame this on me," he tensely said. Troy was starting to get frustrated. "You're the one who practically dragged me out here. I did not pressure you, I did not push myself on you, and I certainly wasn't begging you to come out here. In fact, I believe it was _you_ who begged_ me_ to hurry up as we left the bar."

Gabriella scowled while crossing her arms. A mixture of hurt and anger rushed through her eyes. "I wasn't blaming you for coming out here. I just said that we shouldn't have been out here. _In fact_," Gabriella emphasized the words Troy had just used, "I was blaming you for talking!"

Troy rolled his eyes. "I do a lot of shit for you Gabriella. I go to meetings for you, I go to parties for you, I attend family gatherings for you, and I study stupid, ridiculous charts _for you_. Do not blame me for mixing up information that you gave me. I'm not a fucking genius who can memorize a hundred facts in two days about people who I couldn't care less about!"

"Would you keep your voice down?" Gabriella hissed as she looked around and saw the handful of people who were watching them.

"I shouldn't have to keep my voice down. We're in a public place with people who have rights to voice whatever the hell they want to say!"

"Troy, this is embarrassing," Gabriella pleaded in a small voice. There was no longer anger in her tone, but instead, she looked vulnerable and scared.

"I'm sorry that I'm an embarrassment. I bet Tyler wouldn't make a scene, would he?"

Gabriella narrowed her eyes. "Fuck you Troy," she hissed with venom. She stormed over to the car. The driver was already outside the car, waiting to open the backseat door. Gabriella gave Troy one last look before turning towards the older man who had been driving Troy around for the past five years.

"Is Mr. Bolton coming, Miss Montez?" Harold, the driver asked.

Gabriella looked at the white haired man. "No, he won't be joining us tonight."

* * *

Troy had no idea how he ended up at the hotel. It was easy to recall getting in the cab, and Troy knew that he had been driven around for about twenty minutes before he had the middle age driver stop the car. And although Troy could remember checking in to receive the room he booked, his night had seemed like a blur still.

Troy brought the clear liquid up to his lips, gulping down the cold liquid that awakened his senses.

He took in his surroundings, grinning as the king-size bed came into focus. He and Gabriella had spent many nights together in that bed. There was just something special about the room where they spent their very first night together.

He knew he messed up. Troy knew it wasn't his fault when he spoke to Susan, but Troy was willing to accept responsibility when he yelled at Gabriella. He shouldn't have gotten that upset.

There was a knock on the door, causing Troy to swear that he didn't want room service.

He swung the door open, expecting to come face to face with an awkward teenage boy who delivered food for a living, but instead, Gabriella was standing before him, holding a stack of paper.

"Ella?" Troy questioned stupidly.

"I had a feeling that you'd be here," she spoke softly, making Troy grin. "I didn't know if you wanted me to come, but I felt like I should."

"Of course," Troy reassured her. "Come in."

Troy took it as a good sign that Gabriella was letting him touch her. Granted, he only led her to the edge of the bed, but she didn't pull away.

"I don't know what happened tonight," Gabriella confessed. "I thought everything was going okay, but then we just let our personal traits get the better of us."

"Personal traits?" Troy tentatively laced their fingers together.

She looked up at him, mindlessly covering the top piece of paper so that he couldn't see what she was holding.

"I think you and I both know how competitive I can get when it comes to my job," Gabriella revealed.

"That's what I love about you. You're competitive and determined to do great things," Troy murmured with complete honesty.

"And that's sweet, but I know that this past week hasn't been easy for you. _And_ I also know it hasn't been easy because of me."

"Don't say that," Troy demanded softly. "You're not the one who made an ass of himself by yelling in public."

"Troy, this whole apologizing thing doesn't work if you interrupt me," her tone was light, but it was enough to make him realize that he should remain quiet. "I went overboard on preparing for tonight, and I want to say sorry. I think we were both frustrated, although you would never admit that I was a problem, and I love for that, but I'm asking you to tell me if I ever put too much pressure on you."

"Where are you getting these ideas from?" Troy, this time, didn't hesitate to put his arm around Gabriella.

"It was pretty obvious when you started listing all the things you do for me," she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Also, I didn't miss the part where you shouted about Tyler. I thought we were cool about that?"

Troy chuckled awkwardly, "I was hoping you were too worried about your meeting on Monday to remember I mentioned Tyler."

Gabriella shook her head. "No matter how freaked I am about the meeting, there was no way in hell I would forget you mentioning Tyler."

"On a normal night I would have never brought Tyler up. Hell, I haven't thought about him since you mentioned him ten months ago. But since we talked about him before tonight happened I think he was in the back of my mind."

Troy saw that Gabriella was about to object, but he pressed two fingers over her lips.

"Before you say that I was being jealous, you must know that I got over being jealous of other guys the moment we told each other that we loved each other. I trust you completely, and although I don't trust Tyler, I would never doubt your loyalty to me. So, yes, I brought Tyler up in our argument, but no, I do not have a problem with him. I just said that about him because I knew I would get a reaction out of you."

"That's a horrible reason," Gabriella said in a know-it-all tone. "But I do understand because when we fight we just say things to upset each other. It sucks, but if we can work through a couple of mean sentences, then I think we will survive."

"Of course we'll survive. Even if we did ever break up I wouldn't leave you alone. I'm addicted to you Ella," Troy admitted. "And I'm sorry about the way I acted. I swear, I seriously thought Susan was pregnant and when I smelled alcohol on her I lost it. And I'm sorry that you have to go through another meeting with her. If it matters, I'll call and talk to her. I'm sure that I can keep your new position locked in place."

"As much as that reassures me," Gabriella softly said, turning her body so that she could press the side of her face into Troy's chest for comfort, "I'm a big girl who can take care of this problem. And if Susan doesn't like me for who I really am then she can take her stupid promotion and shove it up her ass."

Troy sensed the tension in Gabriella's tone. "Baby, tell me why you wanted to seem perfect tonight. Because in the past you have never had problems with being perfect."

Gabriella sighed while blushing a little. "You're going to think this is stupid."

"Humor me babe."

"When Susan and I met during our meeting earlier this week, she told me that if I accepted the promotion then there was this certain image that everyone like me had to fulfill. We, as in everyone who doesn't just write for the paper, have to seem perfect. She made it seem like such a big deal on how we have to know _everything_ about _everyone_." Gabriella looked up at Troy for the first time of explaining things to him. "See? It's stupid and means nothing now."

"Why does it mean nothing now? Don't you want to keep this new position?"

Gabriella smiled, standing up from the bed and walking over to the fireplace that the hotel created before Troy came up to the room. Even though it was summer, the hotel liked to keep things looking classy and elegant.

"I wouldn't mind having it, but then again, if keeping this position means that I'm going to put unnecessary pressure on you, then it's not worth it. So I brought you a gift." She held up the stack of paper and bit her lower lip. "I printed all the profiles I created for you. I think we deserve to burn them."

Troy stood up and walked over to Gabriella, wrapped his arms around her torso, and molded his body to her own. Gabriella leaned back into Troy, and he couldn't help but smile as this is how he wanted the night to end up.

"On three," Troy whispered. He pressed a kiss to her exposed neck, guiding the pile of paper towards the fire. Gabriella started to count down from three, and Troy gleefully helped Gabriella throw the papers away. "I love you Ella."

She turned in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you too." She looked up at him and giggled lightly. "What are you thinking about?"

"How can you tell that I'm thinking about anything?" Troy countered back even though Gabriella was right, and he did have something on his mind.

"You have a specific face when something is puzzling you."

"Well," Troy stated, leaning down to press a quick kiss to her lips, "I was wondering where you go whenever we fight? I know you went back to the apartment, but you had to of gone someplace else too."

"You ask me this a lot and each time I tell you the same thing," Gabriella chided playfully. "I go to the same place every time we fight, but I cannot tell you because it's a secret. Only I know where I go. Not even Sharpay knows."

"One day I'm going to figure it out," Troy vowed.

Gabriella just laughed as he randomly dipped her and kissed her lips as a promise.


	7. You're Being Emotional Right Now

_7. You're being emotional. (Is it that time of the month?)_

Troy loved the mornings when he could just lounge around in bed after a long night of having wild, hot sex with his sexy girlfriend. He liked the fact that he didn't have to worry about business meetings or getting to work on time. He no longer needed to think about calling for a taxi or getting his driver to drive him. Troy didn't need to drink two cups of coffee to keep himself awake, and he most definitely didn't have to get up to shave off the slight stubble collecting on his face.

In fact, he loved the lazy mornings more and more as he thought about it. The only thing that he didn't like about that particular morning was that when he woke up, he was alone in bed. He nearly felt like a one night stand as he went to reach out for Gabriella's bare torso to tease her a little bit, but instead, he was met with cold sheets…which meant Gabriella had been up and out of bed for a long time.

He glanced at the clock and noticed that it wasn't even morning yet. It was only four-thirty in the morning. The blinds in their room didn't even have to be pulled down considering outside was still pitch dark—except for the city lights still being on all the time.

Troy slowly grabbed his boxers from the floor before sliding them on. He tried to be as quiet as possible while walking through his room to reach his wide open living room. He wasn't quite sure why he was being so careful, figuring that it was probably because it was so early and he didn't want to startle Gabriella just in case she wasn't expecting him.

However, once he reached his living room he noticed that the sliding glass doors to his small balcony were open and the cool nighttime air was rushing inside the apartment. He scurried over to the door, but stopped once he hit the doorway. He took in the way Gabriella's back was facing him, the thin bed sheet wrapped tightly around her torso and fanning out around her legs. Gabriella's hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail; even though Troy was sure he took her hair out of the confines of the same rubber band hours before.

Troy crept up behind Gabriella, slowly wrapping his arms around her. He inhaled her scent, making sure her body formed to his bare chest. Troy rested his chin on her shoulder, looking at the city that was always busy.

"You're lucky that we're high up here so that no one can see us," Troy whispered playfully. He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, nuzzling his nose against her soft skin. "You have a pretty big mark here." He tapped his nose against her purple bruise that formed because of his mouth.

Gabriella embraced Troy while keeping her eyes trained on the lights below.

"What are you doing up? It's early," she stated softly. Troy waited for Gabriella to turn in his arms, finally tearing her eyes away from the mixture of lights and darkness so that she could look into his baby blue eyes. Her small hand reached up and pushed his bangs out of his face.

"It's not early. It's late into the night. We should both be in bed, El," he said in a whisper. This moment on their balcony was too precious to ruin with normal tones of voice.

"I couldn't sleep, and so I thought I would surprise you and make your favorite cookies, and then halfway through making them, I started to get tired." Gabriella let her body fall into Troy's, having no problem letting him support her weight.

"That's okay. It's too early to make cookies anyways," Troy soothed, his hand rubbing up and down her bare back. The cloth surrounding her body was slipping due to Gabriella's hands now circulating around his waist.

"Oh, I finished the cookies. I'm just waiting for them to be done in the oven. That's why I came outside. I was hoping the cold air would keep me up, and it was."

"It was?" Troy asked skeptically. "Because right now your eyes are drooping shut and your words are starting to slur a little babe."

"It was but then you came out here and your nice, warm body is making me drowsy." Gabriella yawned like a small child. "I'm sorry for waking you."

Troy chuckled lightly. "You didn't wake me by making noise. It was when I turned over to have my way with you again that I noticed you weren't in bed. I seriously thought it was the morning time."

Before Gabriella could say anything, a beeping sound went off, indicating that the cookies were done. Gabriella went to enter the apartment, but Troy stopped her.

"Ella, go to bed and let me take care of the food. You're really tired and you'll need your energy come morning."

Gabriella didn't even have enough power to comment on Troy's suggestive tone about the coming morning.

"Thank you," she mumbled into his chest, her lips ghosting over his hardened pectoral in what was supposed to be a kiss goodnight.

Troy guided Gabriella into the warm room, turning her so that she would walk in the direction of their room. No matter how tired Gabriella was, Troy couldn't resist when she turned away from him to tap her lightly on her ass in a playful way.

She grumbled something in response, leaving Troy with a wide smile on his face; however, it was the smell of burning that made him rush to the oven to retrieve the blackened chocolate chip cookies.

* * *

Troy smiled victoriously as he took in the frame of his girlfriend's body. The shower was running and the mirror and glass of the shower was steamy. He couldn't see the details of her skin, like the freckle or small scar on her shoulder, but he could see the curve of her hips and the outline of her plump breasts.

He carefully opened the shower door and stepped in from behind. It had only taken a moment before Gabriella turned around with a small gasp of surprise.

She hit his chest like an overdramatic teenager. "Troy!" She exclaimed, "You shouldn't sneak up on me like that—especially since I'm in the shower."

Troy smirked at how easily Gabriella scared. "Who else would come into the shower with you? It was obviously me," Troy stated cockily before a genuine smile overcame his face at seeing Gabriella's narrowed eyes. "I'm sorry baby. Forgive me?"

"How can I say 'no' to such a handsome man?" Gabriella replied sweetly, batting her eye lashes, but before she could do anything else, Troy's fingers were on her lower hips, bringing their most intimate organs together.

Their lips connected in a sweet gesture, but what was supposed to be sweet and short turned into something passionate and long. Troy wanted to milk the moment for all he had since he knew that days like that weren't often. It was Sunday and neither of them had plans, and so he knew what was on his mind, and he wanted Gabriella to know also.

"I have to get out," Gabriella panted once Troy released her bruised lips. Troy smirked as even though he heard Gabriella correctly, she didn't release the hold she had on his lower back. "I have an interview in two hours."

"We can do this quick," Troy said breathlessly. He brought his lips closer to shoulder blade, massaging her tense muscles with his mouth. "You look so hot baby."

Gabriella shut her eyes, giving into Troy right away once she felt his mouth sucking her tender skin until it turned color.

Before Troy continued, however, he finally registered what Gabriella had said. He pulled back and looked down at her and her cheeks that were quickly turning red from being flustered. "It's Sunday. Since when do you have to conduct an interview on the weekend?"

"This is the only time I could met him. Tyler's really busy getting ready for his trip in three months. He has other interviews after me, and then some press conferences. I'm just lucky that he promised to meet with me before someone else got to him. I guess that's a perk of being an ex-girlfriend."

Gabriella meant nothing by the comment, but Troy pulled even further away from her. He racked his brain for who this 'Tyler' could be, and then it dawned upon him. This was the same guy who had ran into his girlfriend a while ago at some café.

"Tyler Cannon? You're interviewing Tyler Cannon over dinner? That's practically a date," Troy exclaimed.

Gabriella furrowed her eye brows, blindly reaching behind herself to turn off the shower's water. "No, it's not a date. It's a business interview. Our paper is going to have his story before everyone else. He's doing something really amazing."

Troy watched as Gabriella stepped out of the shower, picking up the red towel that was hanging on the back of the door to wrap around herself. Troy followed suit, but instead of wrapping his whole body, he wrapped his white towel around his slim waist.

"And what's so _amazing_ about him?" Troy asked with a bitter tone.

Gabriella rolled her eyes while walking into their bedroom. "He's traveling the world. He's been planning this trip since he was seventeen years old and now he's actually doing it."

"That's all?" Troy rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his hard chest. He sat down on the edge of the bed as Gabriella carefully grabbed a pair of black lace panties with a matching bra to put on. She slowly put her delicates on underneath the towel so Troy couldn't see. "What's _so_ special about that?"

Gabriella smiled softly, coming to stand in front of Troy, making him open his legs wider so that she could stand in between them. "He's traveling to over twenty different counties, by himself, without a tour guide. Tyler won't know anyone, but yet he'll be experiencing some amazing moments with other nations. Also, Ty has an awesome story because technically he isn't supposed to be able to walk right now."

Troy arched an eye brow. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means that he was in a bad car accident when he was fourteen years old, and he had some damage done to his legs. The doctors said that it would be a miracle if he could walk someday, but he managed to prove everyone wrong when he turned sixteen and he took his first step again. So, Tyler is being kind by letting me write my article before he does anymore interviews."

Troy huffed. He didn't like the sound of that. Troy trusted Gabriella, he really did, but he didn't trust Tyler anymore. He thought it was a coincidence that Tyler and Gabriella ran into each other weeks ago, but now that Gabriella was writing an article about this guy? Troy didn't believe in coincidences anymore.

"Where are you going tonight with him?" Troy asked nicely, a plan already developing in his mind.

Gabriella didn't seem to notice Troy's underlying tone as she answered him easily. "We're going to your grandfather's restaurant."

"The one I took you to on our first date? _Our_ favorite restaurant?" Troy couldn't believe that Gabriella was taking Tyler to their restaurant. It was their favorite food spot and it had a sentimental value in both of their lives. "You better not be eating in the private room."

"Of course not," Gabriella agreed easily. She knew how to calm Troy down. All she had to do was agree with him. "We're going to be out in the open for everyone to see and hear. And if everything goes okay, I'll be home within three hours and you and I can have dessert together. Maybe a little whip cream and chocolate syrup. We can have your favorite treat."

Troy smirked, letting his hands spread out on the bare of her back. "A Gabriella Montez sundae?"

"Of course."

* * *

"I feel gay right now," Chad complained in a harsh whisper.

Troy narrowed his eyes as he tried to see across the restaurant. "Shut up man."

"I'm serious," Chad continued as he set his menu down and followed Troy's direction of the eyes. "I feel gay and stalkerish."

"We are not stalkers. We are merely making sure that Tyler Cannon keeps his hands to himself for the night," Troy explained as if it were natural to be spying on his girlfriend while she conducted an interview for her job.

"We look like we're a fucking couple since there are candles surrounding us," Chad motioned to the mandatory candles lit up at their table. "And you look like a pervert who can't keep his eyes off of Gabriella."

"First, there has to be candles since this is a place where you would take a date…not a person you're interviewing," Troy snapped as he watched Tyler order another bottle of wine.

"Also, you don't bring your best friend here either," Chad added before Troy continued.

"And secondly, since I'm her boyfriend, I have the right to watch her…he's putting his hand on top of her own!" Troy frantically straightened up in his seat, watching as Gabriella and Tyler seemed to be laughing about something.

"He's not touching her. His hand is next to hers on the table, and there's at least a good three inches of space. Honestly Bolton, put your glasses on," Chad requested, glancing down at the menu before him, knowing he was planning on ordering the most expensive thing since Troy dragged him to the restaurant in the first place.

"He's standing up," Troy replayed out loud, "And he's—"

"He's probably going to the bathroom, and—where are you going?" Chad asked as if Troy were crazy.

"I'm going over there." There was determination in Troy's tone as he had enough of watching Gabriella with Tyler. He usually wasn't that jealous of other people, and he didn't want to be the crazy possessive boyfriend, but Gabriella and him were serious, and it was time to tell Tyler Cannon.

"I've read all of your work Gabs. I'm sure that this—may I help you?" Tyler directed towards Troy as he stood behind Gabriella.

Gabriella whipped her head around, her curls flying all over the place. "Troy?" She questioned with surprise.

"Hey Ella." Troy stuck out his hand for the standing Tyler to shake. "Hey, I'm Troy Bolton, Gabriella's boyfriend. My family also owns this restaurant."

"Oh yeah, Gabs said something like that before. I'm Tyler." Both men shook hands, but Troy wasn't convinced by Tyler's 'nice' boy act.

"What the hell are you doing?" Gabriella hissed; standing up and gripping his arm. It was fairly obvious that Gabriella wanted Troy to let go of Tyler's hand, and so he did with pleasure. She turned to face Tyler, an embarrassed smile coating her face. "I'm so sorry about this."

"I was just in the neighborhood with Chad," Troy motioned behind himself, and saw that when all three of them looked over, his bushy haired friend waved meekly, "and I just decided to come over to say hi."

"Well, you've said it, and now you can leave," Gabriella insisted.

"Nonsense. You two haven't had dessert," Troy spoke smoothly, smirking at Tyler who raised an eye brow at his tactics. "Have a seat and let's call over your waiter. This dinner is my gift to you for accomplishing a new adventure."

Tyler looked between Troy and Gabriella, having a decision to make. He could either leave like Gabriella wanted him to do, or he could stay and play Troy's game that he was secretly challenging him too.

"I guess," he spoke awkwardly; making Troy smirk even more.

"Ty, we can go. You said you had other plans—"

"No way. We haven't seen each other for a while, and it'll be good to catch up outside of business." Tyler looked at Troy with a serious edge in his eye. "And really man, this was just business."

Troy chuckled good heartedly. He knew he was being a jackass, but he had the green eyed monster in his veins, and it was hard to deny the monster the pleasure of marking his territory.

"I cannot believe you," Gabriella hissed as she walked next to Troy down the street towards their apartment. "I cannot fucking believe you!"

Troy scratched the back of his neck, knowing he should apologize, but his pride wouldn't let him. "What do you want me to say Ella? He's your ex-boyfriend, so _forgive_ me for being just a little upset that you basically went out on a date with him."

"It was for an interview! How many times do I have to keep saying that?" Gabriella exclaimed, stopping in her tracks, making Troy stop also. Troy watched as she shook her head with disappointment. "Tyler is doing something with his life and you basically mocked him. You made fun of the fact that he's exploring new things and I happen to be proud of him, but then you come along and tear him down! That's not right Troy!"

"You're being emotional. Is it that time of the month?" Troy whispered the last question, wincing as he watched Gabriella stomp her foot in frustration.

"Fuck you," Gabriella seethed. She turned around and started to walk in the opposite direction of their home.

Troy's eyes went wide as he finally realized just how bad their situation was. He jogged to catch up to her, taking two big steps so that he was in front of her.

"Get out of my way Troy," Gabriella warned.

"Look, I'm sorry," Troy said quickly.

Gabriella scowled at his attempt to fix things. "Move Troy, move before I regret something I say. Some of us actually have a filter between our minds and mouths."

Troy let Gabriella push past him, watching her walk down the dark street…alone.

* * *

"Don't look at me like that."

…

"Seriously, Cannon was practically fucking her with his eyes."

…

"She's your mother, and the only way to keep her safe was to spy on her."

…

"I just wish she would call. Really, don't look at me like that. I know I messed up TJ, but now I'm more concerned about her safety rather than apologizing," Troy admitted to the dog that was lying at the foot of his bed.

Troy Junior's head picked up all of a sudden, and hope swelled in Troy's heart. He stood up, taking off his glasses only to set them down on the bedside table. Troy slowly made his way down the hallway, hearing the front door opening and then closing.

"Ella?" He called out.

When he entered the living room he felt relief enter his body as he took in the small woman on the ground, making a makeshift bed out of blankets and pillows.

If it were any other time then Troy would laugh. "Baby, what are you doing?"

Gabriella looked up. "I'm not sleeping in the same bed as you. Remember? I'm too emotional, and so I'll sleep on the ground tonight."

"That's ridiculous," Troy stated, but then stopped talking once Gabriella shot him a stern look. He watched her for a minute more as she laid out even more blankets. It was October and the weather was starting to turn crisp with coldness, and so Gabriella's small body didn't hold as much heat as it did in the summer time. "Here, let me help you."

Troy knelt down on the ground and started to spread out the rest of the blankets. He looked around the living room and spotted another pillow on the couch. He quickly grabbed it and put it down on the ground next to Gabriella's pillow.

"Thanks," Gabriella said with a gruff voice. "…I guess."

He watched as she settled down in the nest of quilts and comforters, her dark red dress fitting to her body like a second skin. She had her back turned towards him, and so Troy made his move. He slowly maneuvered his body and gently laid down, plopping his head down on the pillow he grabbed a minute before.

Troy was silent, ready to speak when Gabriella turned around all of a sudden, her body twisting so that she could be facing Troy on her side.

"What are you doing?"

"I am lying down next to my gorgeous girlfriend. What are you doing?" Troy asked sweetly.

"I'm mad at you, and Troy, you can't just think that everything is okay between us. There is a reason behind me sleeping on the ground and it's because I didn't want to be near you tonight."

"I'm sorry." Troy slowly reached his hand out so that it was resting on her side. "I don't know what came over me tonight. I didn't think I would get so jealous—especially since we talked about him a couple of weeks ago."

"I told you that this was just a business meeting," Gabriella insisted, but Troy couldn't help but notice how much softer her tone became. "I've never given you a reason to doubt me, and so I don't know why this night was any different."

Troy sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "It's because Tyler was an important person in your life. And no matter if you want to hear my thoughts or not, I truly believe his motives aren't so innocent."

"He has a girlfriend. Her name's Cindy and they have been dating for two years. They're getting really serious right now and he's thinking about proposing to her," Gabriella stated fact after fact.

Troy didn't know any of this, but he was almost positive that even if he did know these things beforehand, he still would have spied on Gabriella. "I'm sorry baby. I didn't mean to not trust you because I do. I trust you with everything I have, but…I just got…"

"Just got?" Gabriella prompted, making Troy feel like a complete pansy.

"I just got scared. It doesn't matter if Tyler is dating anyone. People can change their minds in a blink of an eye, and I couldn't help but wonder if maybe you ever wanted him back?"

Gabriella's hand enclosed around Troy's. She turned her body even more so that her body was as close as possible. "There is no need for you to be scared. I have no doubt in my mind that we will make this work. I'm in it for the long haul and I hope that you are too."

"I am," he assured her right away, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I most definitely am."

"Good," Gabriella smiled. "And I can promise you that I won't be seeing Tyler for a very long time. I don't want anyone to come in between us."

Troy brought Gabriella's hand up to his mouth, lightly kissing her knuckles. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have spied on you."

"No, you shouldn't have, but I forgive you anyways. In a way, your whole over protectiveness attitude is kinda sexy."

Troy smirked, gripping onto Gabriella, pulling her so that she was now lying on his chest completely. "Really?" He pressed his lips to her own, a smile coming onto both of their faces. He pulled back to really take a good look at Gabriella's face, a serious tone being produced from his throat. "I was wrong tonight."

Gabriella looked down at Troy with confusion. "I don't understand."

"I called you emotional, but you weren't. If anything, I was the crazy emotional one tonight, and I really am—"

"Troy," Gabriella cut in, "If you apologize anymore then I'll be annoyed again."

Troy nodded his head cheekily. "Well then, in that case, let me apologize with my mouth in a different way."

Before Gabriella could say anything, he crashed his lips up into her own once more.


End file.
